Monsoon in Bangladesh is not just about the gentle tapping of raindrops on tin roofs or the howling winds through half-open windows. It ushers towards a journey down the memory lane where resides forgotten letters, unfinished poetries and long lost companions.
In Bangla literature, Monsoon has always been a phase of love and longing that exists within the silent verses of poems and unspoken confession in songs. Across decades, Bengali authors have poured their souls out in their creation to pronounce their implicit emotions of love, sorrow and intervals for the clouds.
Often the heart skips a beat in the rain when the pounding of water droplets against the window panes raps on the door of memories. A drop that leaks through the roof and lands on the page of a book that has not been touched for years. The smell of earth drenched in water evoking nostalgia that rises from the streets and pulls back to our younger years, which were full of late-night conversations, wet notebooks or the pleasant pain that lingers within the heart for a voice.
The earth softens with every downpour and induces the whopping thunder of love that resides within the hearts that cannot be tamed. However, they eventually find refuge under a shared umbrella or at tea stalls by the roadside - vulnerable to getting drenched together - raw and beautiful. A world where only the roaring rain, the single umbrella and the two souls exist.
Poems on monsoon are often read aloud in the classrooms. Young lovers in the movies run in between gardens beneath the grey skies. The text messages written, but never sent, or songs shared across social media platforms reverberate the thoughts that can never be expressed.
On the other hand, monsoon also reminds us of those who were once lost and gone, which may be the reason why Bangla literature involves monsoon being accompanied by an undertone of loss. The rain gives both love and sorrow a common stage where they can transfigure themselves into twins that co-exist in parallel to each other..
It is not only poets who are inspired by monsoon; it finds a way into language that affects all. Every year, for three months, we embrace ourselves and adapt to be more lyrical, be a little more immersed in love with nature, people and poetry.
Monsoon makes us pause from the daily rush. It urges us to stop for a while - for the rain to stop and wait for a return text. Poetry exists at those moments while we hold on and let our love grow, bloom and breathe.
With each drop of water on the skin, we write a new story. It is never too late, as we are still able to fall in love again, repeatedly like the raindrops fall, because in Bangladesh, monsoon is not just a season. It is passion, it is literature.
