the image comes of the days that the

monsoons would arrive, welcome after

the intense heat of the months previous

but muggy all the same

 

this would invariably occur when it was

time to transport children to and from

school—and our crocs we would don

because they gave better protection

than our usual sandals

 

as we waded through waters

at least ankle deep but often

reaching my youngest ones’ knees

 

and i would try to make light of it all

and have fun to distract us from thinking

what the water might carry as rats nearly

the size of cats flushed out of pipes and

drains along the paths

 

we would make it through the lanes

that led to the metro and climb

up the steps before going down

and down

 

and once we had finally trundled

aboard our train, uncomfortably

wet and undoubtedly splattered by

things left better unknown

 

it was always as if the passage

was lighter and people were more

willing to smile even if just to say

‘khuba bristi’ [a lot of rain]

 

i suspect that was because of the

collective adversity experienced

that tore down barriers of wealth

culture and cast and gender

and reminded us that we were all

simply human

and vulnerable

together

 

–life in calcutta  

Heather Pound 2024

Photo by Abhinav Srivastava on Unsplash