The monsoons have come to Kolkata and what a welcomne relief..!!Phew..!!This Summer was particularly trying..seemed like there would be no respite from the relentless heat and high humidity and to add to your terrible wounds there was CESC-Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation-uncooperative as always..depriving you of power at all times of the day and night.

If you happened to be one of those citizens conscious of your rights and thought it your bounden duty to register a note of protest with the powerful CESC,the response you received was..."please bear with us,there has been a major breakdown..we understand the trouble you are having to go through...power will be restored shortly....."


The usual cliched statements,infuriatingly soothing,tantalizingly vague,having the desired effect of calming the harried caller without making any commitments about when or how exactly his trouble would come to an end!


The Customer Care fellows have turned a mundane,routine job into an art.And mind you,you could shout out from the rooftops,in the process endangering your already over-strained vocal cords,about the inefficient and ineffective service of the power generating body and ne"er would you succeed in ruffling a feather..!!Told you,those chaps have been trained to keep their cool even in an earthquake.To save yourself any further embarrassment,you quietly put down the receiver,not able to make up your mind whether you had been hit or given a hug of sympathy for the hours spent in next -to- impossible conditions!


Anyway,hoping all that is of the past,the rains are here and let us welcome it,and sing its tune and dance its rhythms,even if that means more than half the city will be facing water logging and its attendant worries!For the monsoons conjure up  visions of a quaint little town,washed and cleaned and greened and revive aromas of the baking earth receiving the first few drops from the skies above..


The monsoons in Kolkata will be particularly harrowing this year as vast parts of the city have been dug up to lay down mammoth-sized pipes which connect directly to the Ganga to drain out the rain waters...With more than half of the roads in those parts inaccessible and slush and silt spilling over on to the roads,commuting could make life in Hell seem less intolerable.


The KMC-Kolkata Municipal Corporation-has taken up this ambitious project kindling hopes for the city and is doing a commendable job no doubt but it"s taking a darned long time to complete  a project it hinges its pride on.


Monsoon rains mean the streets are filled with blackened mud and filth and the overpowering stench in the air....


I saw the beggar who had aroused my curiosity by his pathetic,stooped frame so many months back again today..this time after the initial averted gaze,I looked closely at the still,lifeless figure...and I cursed him for lying there inert and infirm...


Can he not summon up courage enough to stand and face the passersby and shame them out of their oh-so-comfortable existence?


Or at least,howl and cringe and grovel and beg...??


Oh, why does he have to turn himself into an animal,a dirty cur?He could beg and still remain human...