Monsoon

It is said, somewhat dogmatically, that "June first is the start of monsoon". Last year we got some heavy rains in late may and the newspapers said that "Monsoon is starting early this year". Then we did not get all that much rain the rest of the year. This year we had rain showers about every 2 or 3 evenings ("It never rains in the morning or during the day", except when it does.) the last 2 weeks of May. On Monday May 31st Jim asked Joseph, our driver when Monsoon starts. He immediately said "June first". Then June first came and when we left work to go home in early evening the sun was out and the sky was bright, so Jim said, "it looks like Monsoon will be late". By the time we reached the apartment, dark clouds had come overhead and about a 30 minute cloudburst occurred. So, it seems that Mons0on did start on June 1. The next day was bright and sunny and a bit hot and it looked like no sign of rain, but before we reached home it rained. We had some rain every evening since June 1. The farmers are happy, since last year was bad.
Fortunately, so far the rains have not been too bad- sudden flooding of the streets can occur and a people are sometimes washed away when they accidentally step into one of the open drains. Still, the rains have been very heavy compared to what we are used to seeing, but only for 20-30 minutes so far.
There is also a "cyclone" on the west side of India- it was supposed to hit Gujurat- where we were in Jan. and March- yesterday. They say this has actually delayed the real start of Monsoon for another week- it seems monsoony enough as it is.