Raabta

Rain

Girl: it's raining!

She said, laughing as she ran out of the building and from the village. She smiled and twirled around in the rain. She didn't know that she caught the eyes of the most desired man, the prince as she had her little moment in the rain.

The Prince was on his horse, trying to seek shelter from the storm and on his quest to find shelter, his eyes found the girl twirling in the rain, her anklets making their jingling sound.

The girl stopped twirling when she saw the man on the horse.

Girl: do you need shelter?

Man: ji, I am in need of shelter.

Girl: theek hai Phir. Chalo mere saath. I'll take you to my place.

The man smiled as he made his horse start walking again and followed the young girl.

Man: do you want to sit on the horse?

Girl: nahi it's fine. My village is not far. We will be home soon. Waise what's your horse's name?

Man: Vanraj.

Girl: waah! What a royal-like name! Vanraj! Aur tumhara naam?

Man: Ruhaan. What's your name?

Girl: my name is Janhvi.

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After so much summer heat, the heavens broke to release a torrent of rain. The parched soil wicked it away to the distant water table below, the only puddles forming on the impervious tarmac sidewalk. It was a gift to the dehydrated flora and the animals who grieved over the dry stream beds.

The downpour was so heavy that to be caught unawares meant being drenched to the skin. Each drop was as large as a cartoon tear and they fell like gravity had been turned up a notch. Every person able to run picked up their pace holding futile hands skyward to fend off the worst and the world was cast into more sombre tones.

A man entered his room and took off his suit blazer, throwing it on his bed before making his way to his terrace that had a shelter over it. He looked at the dazzling city of Jaipur and extended forward his hand to feel the droplets of rain on the palm of his hand.

A smile crept on his face as he watched the rain fall from the sky. He was always memorised when it started raining in India. He didn't know why. He was just memorised by the sudden change in nature.

As the man watched the rain fall, he suddenly saw a flash of lightning. The moment the lightning came, he saw some scenario of him picking up a woman and twirling her around as she laughed. Once the lightning disappeared, the scenario disappeared.

If there was one thing that left him confused about rain, it was that every time it rained, he ended up seeing some scenario in front of his eyes. It was never him alone in this scenario. It was him with a woman who always had the same laugh. That's how he knew that it was always the same woman in the scenarios. By her laugh. But never once has he seen the face of the woman.

Sometimes he'd see himself chasing a woman who just laughed. Sometimes he'd see himself dancing with her as she giggled. There were so many scenarios that occurred when it rained but in all those scenarios, he never saw the woman's face.

The man decided to leave his terrace and see how his family was doing. He knew they would be in the living room. He left his room and walked down the marble staircase of the palace. He walked into the grand living room where he saw his Dadi, sisters Priyanka and Anika, and Dadaji all sipping on tea. He smiled and proceeded to sit next to his Dadaji when a palace help rushed into the living room, drenched in rain, desperate to pass some information to the family.