The weather in Hanoi has been changing, and for the better. The dark clouds bring rain, makes everything fresh and green – it’s picnic weather!

My friends from ICICI Bank (my team in particular) might recall how I used to gush while driving on the Ghodbunder Road to office – always wanting to stop on the new green lawns on the hillside. It’s the same story here – only, I can actually stop and do that. And did too.

The rain makes me want to sit for hours in the window with a book, maybe doze off, get revived by a steaming cup of coffee, sometimes accompanied by piping hot vada pao (so not good for weight management). Or sit in the car at Worli Sea Face in Mumbai, and watch the waves and rain crash on the shore. Or sit on the pavement at Marine Drive and get properly soaked. Or sit on the terrace in Kolhapur and see the hill transform into a green carpet.  Or drive into the Western Ghats, and have a good ‘waterfall’ shower.

From the window at Dosti Acres, Mumbai

In the balcony at Raheja Residency, Bangalore

View from the window at Ciputra, Hanoi

But never to wade through waist deep murky water with who-knows-what floating alongside, in a mad scramble to get home from work! Or cling to 100 strange women in the crowded train, and hope to reach office in some decent shape on time! Or drive past Sion Hospital through 2 feet of water, and wish for some oars to materialize in the car, because the water’s getting in, somehow, and pray that the car doesn’t stall and have to be left behind!

Sitting out a hailstorm in Firenze

Nevertheless, rain is life-giving, fog gives great photo ops, and sometimes it takes only a pipe of gushing water to make the world look pretty!

Hai Van Pass, en route to Hué

Heading to the Rajaram Lake, Kolhapur

Panchgani

Mumbai-Pune expressway abloom with fiery cosmos flowers

The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco