"Cos' I don't know how its gets better than this
You take my hand and drag me headfirst, fearless
And I don't know why but with you I dance
In a storm in my best dress, fearless"
-- Fearless, Taylor Swift
Ignore the "best dress" part, but that was totally what I felt with my friends today. Fearless is the word people.
We were having lunch at Al-Ameen when it started to rain heavily. There was no sheltered route to the bus stop. So, like little kids, we braved the rain and made our way to the bus stop. A move that made us soaking wet. We didn't care. Boy, that sure brought back many memories of childhood.
I've always thought that there is something very special about rain. There is melancholy AND romance in the atmosphere, don't ask me why. It gives hope. It gives life. It is release. It is different. But why?
Is it because we know that the sun is going to shine again? Or is it because of how every single thing on earth reacts to it? The little boy sharing an umbrella with his mother. The couple holding close to each other under the awning, away from the rain. The plants accepting with intense pleasure the violent splashes of the raindrops on their leaves. Even the way each raindrop bounces off the pavement, the ripple of the puddle fascinates. You don't really notice these during a rain, heck, even I don't notice these. But why do these come to mind when I think of the beauty of rain?
It's cold during a rain. It's wet during a rain. That's probably why we hide away from the rain. But why hide? We don't we instinctively embrace nature's showers, feel each droplet running down your neck, seeping into your semi-transparent white tee (ahem)? That's why I quoted Taylor Swift's song. Yeah for one, I like her as a singer, but secondly - it's something plain Fearless. Now that a quality most of us lack. Who walks into the rain like an idiot when every runs out? I'm glad that we went through what we went through today, because everyone led everyone to be fearless. And we had fun out of it.
I have a secret urge every time it rains - to run out, sing and dance and shout and scream in the rain. Children's have no qualms doing it. Why should we? Why should we follow the social norms? But why do I not do it? Seriously, we humans are such contradictions to ourselves and I can't say I understand why. We are so marginalised, that it just shows. But at the very least, I did something that I've always wanted to, and temporarily broke free from society's boundaries.
Rain is always portrayed as the adversities, whereas the sun always comes out and release the rays of hope. Why do people say that we can make it through the rain, and not the sun? Why do people say the sun will shine again and not the rain will fall again? I don't know. But what I do know is, I like rain, and I like sunshine. I like their correlation, their interaction, and I like their independence.
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain
--Singin in the Rain, Gene Kelly
A happy refrain indeed.
1 comment(s):
Hmm... I think sometimes the inherent contradiction of life makes it more beautiful.
Walking in the rain is special when we do it. But only because most people around us don't do it; and we don't do it everyday!
Actually the reason why I shave with a straight razor is because of the romance I associate with it, the sense that it was an ancient masculine ritual that was the hallmark of an era long-gone. Same reason why I use fountain pens and wear traditional and conservative dress shoes.
I think the human mind is such that we lose sight of the beauty in life once we lapse into routine. In a way, the fact that nobody else does it makes doing it all the more special for those who do.
May we look back upon that day, decades down the road, and feel the start of a smile creep up our faces. :D
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