Daily Archives: June 17, 2019

Chasing The Clouds – India’s Children & Their Interplay With Monsoon

Children standing on a road dressed up in school uniforms, holding umbrellas during monsoon.

The vagaries of India’s monsoon, are known to all its people, especially its children. For some, it is a signal that summer holidays are coming to an end, and the new year at school is round the corner. For others, it means playgrounds turned into puddles, time for paper boats, colourful umbrellas, raincoats, gumboots, and cricket in the rain. And for many others it means the washing away of their homes, taking shelter at a railway station, on a skywalk or a bus shelter, braving the rain under leaky thatched roofs, and chasing the clouds elsewhere.

We bring to you images from different parts of India that capture the joy and jubilance of monsoon juxtaposed against the stark realities that exist for children during this time.

MONSOON IS A TIME FOR CHILDREN WHERE PLAYGROUNDS TURN INTO PUDDLES

Photo – Unknown

AND PUDDLES TURN INTO PLAYGROUNDS

Photo – Unknown

WHERE TARPAULIN SHEETS MAKE FOR RAIN COVER

Photo – PTI

AND DISCARDED AUTOS BECOME PLAYTHINGS

Photo – First Post

WHERE WATER-LOGGED STREETS MAKE FOR LARGE GATHERINGS

Photo – Deccan Herald

AND FLOODED STREETS ACT AS SWIMMING POOLS

Photo – North Coast Courier

WHERE THE ONLY COLOUR ON A DULL DAY IS OF AN UMBRELLA

Photo – Marina Shakleina

AND YOUR ONLY RESPITE IN ON THE BACK OF A SIBLING

Photo – Satyam Roy

WHEN THE FEELING OF RAIN DROPS OF YOUR FACE MEANS SHEER JOY

Photo – Arun Sharma (Getty Images)

BUT WALKING TO SCHOOL IS AN UNPREDICTABLE JOURNEY

Photo – Hindustan Times

WHEN AN UMBRELLA BECOMES A PERMANENT HAND FIXTURE

Photo – Rajagopalan Sarangapani

AND MAKING PAPER BOATS BECOMES THE GAME OF THE SEASON

Photo – Naveen Prasad

WHEN OVERFLOWING BACKYARDS MEANS SWIM TIME 

Photo – Unknown

AND WORKING FOR A LIVING BECOMES OVERTIME

Photo – Unknown

WHEN WADING THROUGH THE WATER EACH DAY BECOMES TRECHEROUS 

Photo – DNA

AND BOATS BECOME A COMMON MEANS OF TRANSPORT

Photo – Unknown

WHEN RAINS REACH CATASTROPHIC LEVELS AND HOME GET WASHED AWAY

A small boy sitting inside a shelter with some food.

Photo – Deccan Chronicle

AND ACCESS TO FOOD AND CLEAN WATER BECOMES DIFFICULT

A young child handing over packets of biscuits during monsoon

Photo – Unknown

WHEN SCHOOL REMAINS SHUT DOWN

A young guy running from the rain with a school bag.

Photo – Unknown

YOU KNOW MONSOON DAYS ARE HERE TO STAY!

A girl child holding an umbrella in heavy monsoon rain

Photo – Unknown