Unit 8: A Short Monsoon Diary

According to Ruskin Bond’s diary entries, June 24 is the first day of monsoon mist. The hills are concealed by a thick white blanket of mist and filled with utmost silence. From June 25, the real monsoon starts setting in and the entire Nature, including human beings, birds, animals and trees, welcomes it. The first cobra lily rears its head from the ferns.

People get habituated to the monsoon season by August 2. Rain starts drumming on the corrugated tin roofs of their houses. Although there is no storm or thunder, there is just the steady swish of a tropical downpour. Snakes and rodents start coming out of their holes and burrows, and they take shelter in roofs, attics and godowns to save themselves from getting wet in the rainwater.

March 23 signals the end of winter. The blackest cloud slowly occupies the sky and it is followed by a hailstorm. This clears the sky completely, and soon, a rainbow starts forming. This is one of the best and most splendid sights that anyone could visualize or experience about the beauty of Nature.

The grandmother asked the children not to kill the Chuchundar because this animal is considered to be lucky and brings in good fortune and money.

The hillsides in Mussoorie become lush green as late-monsoon flowers begin to appear — wild balsam, dahlias, begonias and ground orchids. The seeds of the cobra lily slowly start turning red that signify the rains are coming to an end and the monsoon season is almost over.

(i) Bijju is not seen but his voice is heard because the dense mist conceals the hills and the surroundings.

(ii) The writer describes the hill station and valley as a paradise that might have been.

(iii) The leopard was successful in attacking one of Bijju’s cows but had to flee when Bijju’s mother arrived and screamed imprecations.

(iv) The minivets are easily noticed because of their bright colours.

(v) It looks like a fashion display on the slopes when ground orchids, mauve lady’s slipper and the white butterfly orchids bloom.

(vi) During the monsoon season, snakes and rodents are found in roofs and attics because they have been flooded out of their holes and burrows.

(i)The word ‘springing’ refers to moving suddenly at once. The author uses this word to indicate how the tin roofs are prone to development of sudden unexpected leaking.

(ii) The author is left physically untouched by rain because he is safe inside his room and the tin roof stops the rain from leaking inside.

(iii) The writer is in touch with the rain at the same time because he can see the rain from inside his room and feel it as it has been drumming on the corrugated tin roof of his house.

When it rains continuously for days together, everything around becomes damp and soggy. It becomes difficult for anyone to go out in the rain. The hillsides become lush green as late-monsoon flowers begin to appear, i.e., the wild balsam, dahlias, begonias and ground orchids. The holes and burrows of snakes and rodents become flooded, and they take shelter in roofs, attics and godowns.

When the monsoon season starts setting in, the first cobra lily appears from the ferns. However, when the seeds of the cobra lily slowly start turning red, that signifies the monsoon is coming to an end.