Here, but not quite yet

Almost a week into the month of July and the rains that should have lashed the city, have only been sporadic. Even on Saturday, when the rains did finally come after a long hot wait, they were unequally distributed throughout the city. Parts of the city were knee deep in rainwater while some received just light showers.

"When on Saturday the rains did come we thought that they are here to stay at least for some coming days but then Sunday has gone dry and all the Saturday rains added was more humidity in the air which is getting tougher to bear, "complains Sudhanshu Gupta, a businessman, whose sweat drenched shirt is evidence of the rising humidity in the air.

But one thing that residents can be thankful for are the lack of power cuts. The Saturday rains have added to the humidity but also brought in some cooler evenings and cloudy days.

The rains have also brought people on the streets. Young and the newly married girls can be seen thronging markets and getting mehndi ( henna) applied on their hands, which, they say is a custom. "The month of Sawan is supposed to be an auspicious month for the newly weds who visit their parents house, get henna on their hands and so on," explains Smriti Kumar, one such newly wed who had come to Sarabha Nagar Market on Sunday evening to get henna applied on her hand.

But then the main element of monsoon, the rains, seem to be missing. "My worst apprehension is that the heavens are going to break open in one single day when it will rain so heavily that every thing will come to a stand still. The power lines will go off, the roads will get blocked with rainwater, stench and garbage will be all over the city as it has been happening over the last couple of years. The rains are not spread throughout the months of June, July and August and rather tend to come down in one go, " remarked Neelu Luthra, a housewife.

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