From cosy monsoon reels and café hopping to paper boats and games in the muddy water, today, everyone is experiencing the rains in their own way, one that balances nostalgia, aesthetics, and reality
PANAJI
A s monsoon approaches, playlists dedicated to the rains once again begin making their rounds across phones and social media feeds. The rains have long been romanticised through poetry, films, and music, and now the rainy season has found a new space online, where cosy reels, café visits, and aesthetic rain videos dominate timelines. From earphones plugged in, sitting beside rain striking against the windows, listening to songs like “Rim Jhim Gire Saavan” and “Paavas Piso Aso Kaso”, the monsoon is increasingly being portrayed as an aesthetic experience.
BEYOND THE AESTHETIC
However, a sudden clap of thunder is heard, and you are brought out of your reverie. It’s pouring heavily, you have forgotten your umbrella, your phone battery is at 15 per cent, and the bus has been delayed. You somehow reach home, drenched and tired, only to realise that the electricity has gone out and the clothes you had left outside to dry are wet again. Thus, it is a reminder that beyond the cinematic visuals and carefully curated posts lies the everyday reality of the season. Real life, after all, is far different from the movies, and the torrential downpours are not the same as the artificial showers and perfectly timed moments often seen on screen.
Despite it all, youngsters are embracing the season in their own unique ways. “I love the rains! The perfect rainy day for me is a book, a cup of coffee, and reading in bed,” shares Anagha Desai, a student. “Sometimes, the rainy days in reels look so perfect and comfy. It sometimes makes me want to replicate those reels myself,” she adds. With visuals and videos showing a greener, quieter side of the State during the rains, is the rainy season becoming an aesthetic?
SOCIAL MEDIA MONSOON
From curated monsoon playlists and café hopping to scenic drives and rainy-day photoshoots, the season is increasingly becoming an experience many want to capture and share online. Videos recommending the best monsoon spots, hidden waterfalls, and cosy cafés flood social media every year. For many youngsters, enjoying the rains today is not just about experiencing the season but also about documenting it.
However, for many, it was about simply living in the moment. Kanishka Bugde reminisces about how she spent the monsoons as a child. “As kids, we spent the rainy days in the field, bebe dharpaak (catching frogs), roaming around, playing in the mud, and having baths at the stream. The monsoons were all about the outdoors for us!” she recounts. “Now I feel kids mostly just stay at home on their mobiles instead of actually enjoying the rain outside as we used to,” Bugde adds wistfully.
PAPER BOATS, MUDDY FIELDS
Football games and paper boats were a prime source of rainy-day amusement for many while growing up. “As a kid, my parents were always hesitant to let me play in the rain, fearing we would fall sick,” Shaman Fernandes shares. He further adds, “Like most children, I still loved lingering in the drizzle. I also used to convince my mum to let me play football in the rain! The rains made it even more fun!”
NOSTALGIA MEETS THE PRESENT
“However, I don’t think weather conditions are favourable nowadays, hence parents also don’t like sending their kids out in the rain,” Bugde remarks. She also notes how even the kids now would rather sit inside scrolling. “To an extent, I feel social media has also romanticised the idea of a rainy day indoors with coffee, blankets, reels, and movies more than actually getting drenched and enjoying the outdoors,” she reckons.
For many, the season is about both monsoon playlists as well as paper boat races, football in the rain, and curling up by the window with a steaming cup of coffee and a good book. Ultimately, no reel on a screen can truly capture muddy feet after a rainy football match, paper boats drifting through roadside drains, or the carefree joy of getting drenched in the downpour.
While social media may romanticise the season through filters and aesthetics, the true magic of monsoon continues to live in fleeting childhood moments, spontaneous chai and bhajiya plans, and the simple scent of the earth after the rains!
