I wish it would rain. Not because the height of summer is around the corner and you can feel the mercury shooting up every second. Not because it's hot as hell and my current self-imposed state of unemployment means that I spend every waking (and non-waking) hour in the non-airconditioned environs of lesser mortals (read dogs and drain cleaners).

I really wish it would rain. Not because I'm afraid that the 20 odd showers (ok baths!!!) that I take a day could plunge this city straight into the acute water shortage of yore (read last year) that most people have forgotten like a bad dream. And certainly not because there are only so many times one can say "Oh God! It is so hot" in a day, and at some point you have to think of other things to say over the phone to well-wishers and credit card salesmen.

I just want it to rain. I want to feel that funny tingling sensation in my tummy a few minutes before the air is suddenly heavy with the threat of cloudbursts. I want my senses pulled back to the beginning of time just as the first few drops of rain touch the earth and release that heady fragrance that only the rain can. I want to run out and stand under the steady downpour of a pure sweetness that unleashes all your emotions in a way only the rain can. And then I want the old lady staring at me from her dry and sheltered existence to try and figure out whether the expression on my face could mean happiness or tears.

I just wish it would rain.