So… the monsoon. Since I’ve been living in Mumbai for the past 5 months, the monsoon was a phenomenon I was anticipating and dreading in equal measure. How would I get to work in the knee-deep waters? How would I get out at the weekend if it was always raining? How would anything stay dry?
Apparently (I was out of town) some crazy volume of water did indeed fall on Tuesday morning and flooded the city. However, since all the water had dried up by the same afternoon I suspect that this brief inundation was more related to the quality of the drains than the quantity of the rains.
And aside from that, the monsoon in practice has been rather disappointing. The city is permanently overcast, smothered by a blanket of grey. The watery sun tries & fails to shine through the clouds. The winds whistle through poorly-insulated apartments and dull brown waves crash against the waterfront of Marine Drive, showering passers-by with briny spray. Once every couple of days it rains very hard for about ten minutes and then gives up, exhausted.
In other words, ongoing heat & humidity aside, I think anyone who’s lived through an average English autumn in Scarborough would feel right at home. Can someone tell me if the Mumbai monsoon this year is particularly unusual? Am I missing something?
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