Nature's gift or curse?

It was the month of October and still no sight of rain in the village. The water in the village well is getting deeper and deeper and even one can hear the pail hitting the bottom rock while delving for water. The color of the water is dark with sediments. Very pitiable sight. This is a true story of a village in India where the water shortage is imminent if the rain fails. Farmers have no work and so are the other people who work in the fields. They would just sit and look up at the sky searching for rain clouds. This is one of such year when the water table has hit a new low.

All of a sudden, one could hear the rumbling in the sky and the village is lit bright with the lightning. The onset of rain in a city would of course be welcomed with open hands but the action sequence would be to run indoors and watch the rain through the closed windows amidst eating hot scintillating snack.

But, here in the village the scene is so different. All the people are out there in the open area as if to welcome the rain with their physical presence. One can hear the cows mooing, chicks running helter skelter and even the birds in unrest.

The village was engulfed with dark clouds and all one could hear was the thunder and occasional lightning. The wait was too long and not a drop of water from the sky. Amongst sighs and heavy breadths, pat came a big drop. Then there was no stopping. Even after an hour, there was no respite from rain. It was becoming stronger as each minute ticked. Now, the mud houses resembled a clay cake of the potter. People begin to huddle in the only bricked structure of the village and waited patiently. The waters have brought out a dip in temperature in an unusually hot and humid place.

It is almost dawn and one could hear the twitter of the birds. Water, water everywhere. The parched lands have consumed enough and had no space to intake. There was knee deep water in and around the village and everyone had to wade across.

I wonder if God was kind enough to bring in rains to the village or would have been better if they were left alone with whatever little they had.