It's that time of the year again, Monsoon!

If there is one season I have awaited every year is for you. Monsoon..., Oh Dear! just thinking about you brings a smile to my face. A big, big smile.

Your memories back from childhood simply make me nostalgic. Growing up in coastal Karnataka, rains have a special place in my heart. Right from the start of June, up till late September. Days of heavy pours and lazy drizzles. Both owning memories of their own. Back then monsoon meant floating paper boats in rain water streams, running with banana leafs, playing in muddy puddles, catching baby fishes with mom's saree and preserving them cautiously in plastic bottles which I used to stare once in every 30 minutes hoping they would grow by an inch!

The first thing that comes to mind thinking of monsoon is that fresh, earthy scent produced when rain falls on the dry soil. Young or old every human can connect to that one fragrance. Dancing peacocks, chirping birds, croaking frogs, moving ants and lush greenery. They summarize my hometown on a rainy day. Being a 90's kid, back in those days we were given a chance to get drenched completely on the day of season's first rainfall. It was said that the heat rashes referred to as prickly heat caused due to coastal summers would vanish if they are exposed to the first drops of the season. The first rain or the subsequent cooling of environment in days ahead, those prickly heat would disappear magically without any marks soon after that! But hey, as kids who cared. All we cared was to play in rain, followed by a hot water bath and a yummy plate of hot bajjis from granny.

Speaking of monsoon food so many delicacies to think of. Hot and spicy onion sambars, a range of papads and lip smacking variety of bajjis and pakoras. Chilly, onion, aloo... you name them. There are a range of mushrooms that pop up only during the monsoons. Be it the world famous thunder mushrooms or the humble lawn mushrooms. Im a coastal girl. And of course an all time fish lover. Any fish, any day I would love them. Although the start of monsoons marks a break to active sea fishing, we rely mostly on stream fishes, crabs and local clams. My all time favorite dish of this season is the spicy dry fish curry granny prepares on a cold rainy day.

It's monsoon time again. Once you grow elder, the thoughts related to rains also grows with time. Rains those days were linked with start of schools, catching up with friends, new shoes, colourful umbrellas and raincoats. Alas, it ain't same now. Today rains are associated with thoughts like, 'oh I haven't carried an umbrella, oh Im not wearing a rainy shoe, oh I shouldn't be catching cold' and then the classic, 'Oh no it rained again, one more hour I will be stuck in this horrible traffic'.

As it rains outside now, I sit by my apartment window gazing those tiny droplets smelling the fragrance of onion bajji's. Not from my home but from the neighbors!