There would be no life nor any vegetation on this dear old planet of ours called the earth, if there were no rain. Life did first appear in and on the waters. And it has always been nourished, renewed and refreshed by rainfall. Well-water, river-water and sea-water are very valuable to us but they cannot make the atmosphere sufficient cool, soothing and pleasant. Without rainfall not only does vegetation die but all life and all nature dry up and wither away.

All nature rejoices when rain is about to fall. All men and women, especially farmers, are thrilled and gladdened at the very sight of the rising and gathering clouds. Beasts, birds, trees, plants, the soil, the rivers, all seem to rejoice when it rains r I about to rain. The whole earth is reborn in the rainy season and breathes a new. The rains are the earth’s bathing festival.

Rainfall has its own orchestral music. The muffled rumbling of clouds, the deep-drip of the patter of raindrops of thunder, the flash of lightning, the bugle sound of the winds, the swaying and the waving of plants and trees, combine to celebrate the song and dance festival of rainfall.

Showers of rain are indispensable for paddy crops. Equally necessary are they for the winter harvest. The earth retains or treasures up the moisture of rains. Without this moisture, the wheat crops and other winter crops would suffer. About twenty rounds of rainfall during the two or three months of the rainy season keep the earth fresh and fertile all the year round. The rains are necessary to make winter and summer worthwhile. The rains are the life breath of all the seasons.

But nature does not work to routine. Nature is whimsical and capricious. Sometimes we have almost no rain or too little rain resulting in drought. And sometimes, we have too much of rain resulting in floods. The rain god’s moods and humors are unpredictable.

All children, all boys and girls are gladdened by rain showers. If it rains heavily at about the opening hours of schools and colleges, a holiday is declared. Small children are often seen wallowing on rain water. Paper boats are set afloat in hollows and puddles. Plays and merriments accompany and enliven the rainy season. The “Janmashtami” and the “Rakshabandhan” are the joy-bringing festivals of the rainy season.