Rain Out, Rain In

It was a cloudy afternoon with the clock striking to thirteen, everyone inside the house was busy in their work. “Dhruv, go to the terrace and check if something’s there. Bring it down,” said Dhruv’s mother. He went to the terrace ant noticed the cloudy weather. They were less in number than clouds inside him which wanted to burst out into a rain of thoughts and emotions, but none of the two clouds was raining.

Humans are good with a lot of things that other living things surrounding us are unable to do. Expressing emotions is one such thing which makes us different. We can show our thoughts through happiness, sadness, anger etc. But one thing that is biased is the emotion of crying. These are considered only for a specific gender. In earlier days when boys cried, for any reason, all were told a line strictly “Don’t cry like a girl. Be strong”.

Dhruv was in a similar situation. He was overwhelmed by his emotions and he wanted to pour them out. All he wanted was to cry out and release his pain. But he couldn’t. The seed against crying was also embedded in him by his family and so he couldn’t. So he picked a pen and paper and started writing his feelings down.

While writing, his mother again called him for some work and in that he forgot his writing. In between, his mother went to the same room where Dhruv was writing. The window was open and with a cool breeze, the paper fell near her. She lifted it and started reading it out. “Girls are more emotionally stronger than boys because they can show all of their emotions but we can’t. Why is crying considered a coward act? And if it is, then why only girls? We all fear something or the other. So we are all cowards. And so, we should also release our emotions. Why has this society made such regulations? Who said girls are coward? These things never appealed to me. Today, I want to cry as loud as I can. I want to tell everyone how much I am disturbed. Yes, I am a boy and I am not strong” read out the paper. Her mother understood what was inside him.

She took him to the terrace and pointed upwards and asked: “What’s up there?”

“Dark Clouds” he replied.

“Now, what will happen?” she asked to which he replied, “It will rain.”

“Why aren’t they moving?”

He replied “Because they are heavy due to water droplets. Once it rains, they will become light and will float easily”.

“Exactly. We are all like these clouds. We are filled with joy, curiosity, emotions and full of life. There are times when you find yourself overwhelmed with emotions, of joy or sorrow, which will make you feel heavy. So at that time, you must drain them out and make yourself feel light.”

Dhruv was confused. She said, “Clouds don’t care about anybody or anything when it rains, right?” Dhruv agreed. “So my child, be like these clouds. Release your emotions and you’ll feel lighter. You will be able to float in the air, just like you said.” she said.

She left. Suddenly, it began to thunder and soon started raining. His mother could easily differentiate raindrops and tears but she was happy with the rain ‘Outside as well as Inside’ Dhruv.