Monsoon is here

The monsoon arrived in Delhi today (I say 'arrived' though there's plenty of debate over whether the notion of a vast benevolent cloud moving slowly across the continent is just colonial mumbo jumbo to excite the natives... but whatever... I like it... it arrived). Like anywhere Delhiites discuss weather to fill the gaps in conversation. And there’s good material: summer is offensively hot, winter is smoulderingly cold and in between are just enough nice days to stop people abandoning the city altogether. The monsoon arrived in silence as I sat on my balcony. Tiny raindrops grew to dollops and in seconds the street was ankle deep. It’s such a massive relief after two months of hair-dryer heat. By 5pm the orange-seller with perfectly stacked oranges was back out on the street. But the cows at the local shops seemed peeved – some people just don’t like change.