As a little girl growing up in Shillong, I was so used to hailstorms. The minute the huge rounded stones pelted down on the tin-roofs, my cousins and I would run out with tin mugs in our hands. The excitement would get the better of us, as there was a vicious competitive war amongst us as to who would get the hugest booty. We would wait for the rain to lessen and then rush out to the corners of the garden where the hail stones heaped into small white mounds. Our little fingers would be frozen numb by the time we gathered mug fulls of small white almost-melting ice balls. We had so much fun and would giggle for no particular reason as we pressed them together into shapeless moulds and slipped them into the backs of unsuspecting neighbours, uncles and aunts. The angry shouts that follow would make us run for our lives in glee. Granny would be screaming herself hoarse with her concern for us lest we catch severe colds. But we would carry on with this mad spree anyway! And why not? No wonder I have such lovely memories now!
Yesterday evening, after a round of ice-creams and then chasing the sun-set, Tirus and I went down to the river and watched the boats. The Brahmaputra was looking calm and serene, not for once letting us know of the impending rain in the evening.
I could see Tirus' excitement late last night when a few hail stones pelted down. I so wished he could have done what I had done as a kid! Even though these days kids have so many diversions, it's important that they have their usual brush with nature, just to make them realise how important it is to conserve the environment for their future! (Although all this has nothing to do with what I wore yesterday!)
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