The Rains are here again!

The rains are here again!!! 

This was an old article that I wrote when we first moved here and experienced the first monsoon at the farm!  Each year it is just as glorious as ever!  

A burst of green after the rains!

The mini waterfall near the temple is back in full force

But things change as they always will. These past seven years have brought in so many rich experiences, so many sad ones .....and so much joy too!

Today the holle near our home is flooded and I cannot – or rather do not want to move out. 

We have to cross this to get to our car which is parked beyond for the entire rainy season

Our neighbour making a valiant attempt to cross the swirling water

Back in the city  if you run out of something in the kitchen, all you do is pick up the phone and it gets delivered home.  Haha -  if you think I can do the same here!  But now I have become a ‘Mistress of Improvisation’  and there never is a dull dish at home!  From using fresh betel leaves to spice up the dal,  to making a curry using Barbados cherries instead of tomatoes...to using the core of a banana stem to pep up a simple meal of dal-rice....the trials are endlessly interesting and the outcome almost always delicious!

We had moved from Mumbai to the farm with two dogs Misty and Phoenix , and a cat Snoopy. What we got here was yet another dog- our precious Johnny, Zuki our Mudhol hound joined in a little later. Our cow shed which had 3 cows, a bull and one buffalo when we moved here, now houses 22 animals.   

When you are surrounded by so many animals you have to learn to take their loss in your stride.  But yet it hurts like crazy.  Phoenix our hound passed on to doggy heaven in December.  Misty his constant companion seemed to take it well, but all of a sudden, her age (she was 12) started showing.  It was almost as if she decided to join him and within 5 months she did.  The only consolation was that she was active until the end and did not suffer.  

Misty - constant companion even while working indoors - supervising my quilt-in-progress 

Our beloved Misty 

The most awful thing was when a week after Misty died, Johnny met with a fatal accident on the road to Kembre farms. It is quite a way off from our farm, but he was used to roaming all over the village. He would always get back home in time for his meal, so when he did not turn up for dinner I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. We took a torch and walked around the farm just in case he was trapped some where, but there was no sign of him The next day some villagers mentioned about a dog being hit by a vehicle and we went to check and sadly it was Johnny. Will miss him the most. We always relied on him to warn us of poisonous snakes, and he used to be our companion when we did guard duty in the rice fields!   Sad...sad...sad...sad....

Johnny - our Hero!  

In December, shortly after Phoenix died, Zuki had a litter of the most adorable pups and we had decided to keep one.  I have named him COBOL!  He filled in the emptiness.

So now it is just Zuki and Cobol at home.  Zuki dislikes getting wet in the rain, and so she sits curled up at my feet.  Cobol in all his youthful zest runs in and out of the house leaving wet paw marks,  puddles and spraying all with his playfulness. 

His happiness is contagious and I am learning to be content with just two dogs.

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