Rains hold a special place in the heart of poets and musicians, who credit the season for numerous compositions.
Noted Hindi poet Yatindra Mishra does not differ when he says music does not have the privilege to ignore the rains.
"I think music is connected with monsoon and saying it conversely would be unjust," says Mishra who has penned four collections of Hindi poetry so far.
The poet, who hails from Ayodhya, says music, especially classical and folk, would be orphaned in the absence of the monsoon.
Mishra was in discussion with writer and translator Anu Singh Chaudhary and journalist Rekha Sarin recently during an event at Oxford Cha Bar organised here to celebrate the special bond of the monsoon season with tea and music.
Various forms of singing like 'Kajri', a semi-classical genre is often used to describe the longing of a maiden for her lover as the black monsoon cloud hangs in the summer skies. The style, says Mishra, is notably sung during the rainy season.
The poet who is currently working on a book on singer Lata Mangeshkar had in the past penned a book on the late shehnai exponent Bismillah Khan.
Mangeshkar had lent her voice to monsoon songs such as "Rimjhim Geere Sawan", that has also been sung by Kishore Kumar.
Noted music composers such as R D Burman, Salil Chowdhury and Shailendra have also set songs to capture the romance of the rains.
Salil Chowdhury's "Jhir jhir jhir badarwa barse," and "Saawan ki raaton mein aisa bhi hota hai" besides Shaiendra's "Hariyala saawan dhol bajaata aaya" celebrate the coming of the monsoon.
For laymen, the onset of the monsoon evokes images of 'pakoras' and tea.
"Whenever it rains, the first visual that comes to my head is sitting at a window, holding a pulping hot cup of tea and also pakodas," says author Chaudhary.
Meanwhile, Sarin, who has co-authored a book "Chai: The Experience of Indian teas" says the season's joy can be best savoured with a cup of tea.
"Tea has a romance around it and so does the monsoon. The sound of rain drops and tea, together makes the whole atmosphere completes. Tea, which we drink sip by sip, brings a feeling of bonding," she says.
Sarin points out that tea began to be taken as a therapeutic or health drink a long time ago.
