WAITING FOR THE SHOWERS

The heat wave has made me more religious, each day I pray for clouds and rain. God, I think has his own sense of humour, He sends the clouds but keeps the rain. Each morning when Mohammad Rafi sings through the car stereo, 'Teri zulf ke saye mein shaam kar lunga', I look up and dream of a cold breeze followed by a shower of tiny droplets tingling on my cheeks and then the thunder of clouds bringing in the downpour. Well dreams are dreams, even if they occur in the morning.

Lately I have been thinking how many meanings we associate with the word - 'Saya'. In Japanese it means a scabbard. In Urdu or Hindi, Saya means a shade, relief, protection from the sun, or heat; or in a poetic sense as a veil protecting from the world.

Tumko dekha to yeh khayaal aaya,

Zindagi dhoop, tum ghanaa saya...

Zulfon ka saya is the veil of tresses which can ignite the passions of a man when he can't see the charming face behind them, or the veil under which he dreams of a union.

Saye ki tarah saath meaning close like a person's shadow... a lover, a bodygaurd, even a stalker. Yet the poet says,

Mujhse vaakif to mera jism ka saya bhi na tha,

Kaise ho jaata tumhaara, main khud apna bhi na tha...

Darkness or grey colour is the colour of a shadow or saya... a colour of melancholy...

Hijr ke pehli shaam ke saaye, door ufaq tak chhaaye they,

Ham jab uske shahar se nikle, sab rastey sanvalaaye they...

Who can imagine that a word which means protection can also mean under a spell...

Ek haseen nigaah ka dil pe saya hai,

Jaadu hai junoon hai, kaisi maya hai...

And in the end, saya uth jaana means to be left without protection, like becoming an orphan.

I never though I could think of so many ways in which the word Saya can be used. 

In the end, I have found a video of a song in Raag Megh Malhar. It is said that when Mian Tansen and other greats of Indian Classical music sang this Raaga, it rained. Hoping it still works today, if all the readers play it.