The Death of a Rainbow

It was a cloudy afternoon in Karjat. At around 4:00 p.m. we had woken up from a long nap on the terrace to the sight of glorious green mountains, shrouded in wispy grey clouds. The slightly muggy weather was just cool enough to be comfortable without any ventilation. The pure, fresh air we were breathing seemed cooling enough. It's always nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and just have nothing to do.

We trooped into the kitchen for an afternoon chai. It was dark inside the house, the sun's faint rays didn't make it past the pane-less windows. The contrast of the brightness outside with the dark interiors gave the scene a chiaroscuro-esque quality. The mud caked walls made the inside of the house seem much cooler, and I relished my hot cup of tea, enjoying the silence broken by an occasional chirp, basking in the pleasant aftermath of a restful nap.

That was when my eye caught a sudden splash of colour, breaking the still perfection of the monochromatic scene outside. I rushed towards the window, and beheld a glorious, vibrant rainbow, which seemed to begin just off the borders of our property, and soared across the sky to disappear into the verdure beyond our vision. It was magnificent, and we hurried outside to catch a better glimpse of it.

Proud, bright and gorgeous, our rainbow was so well defined that we could make out each of its hues. It arced across the sky, a beautiful ribbon of colours cutting through the grey clouds in the faint sunlight. I don't know if what they say about a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is true, but it was truly a magical moment, and the longer we looked at it, the more beautiful it appeared. 

We stood there for a good fifteen minutes, marveling at this unearthly beauty - Mother Nature at her finest. For a few minutes the rainbow was so bright that it appeared to somehow reflect in the grey canvas of the sky, giving the appearance of a colourful shadow that hovered behind it. My mind was soaring, my heart and soul were uplifted by the sight of it. It was a perfect moment.

As the evening grew long however, the brilliant hues slowly began to fade. Our lovely rainbow grew dimmer and dimmer, melting into the grey skies so gently you could barely make out when it disappeared. Like a soft sigh, the colours faded, and the arc glimmered away, becoming fainter and fainter, until all that was left of it was memory, an echo of a beautiful phenomenon. 

There was something infinitely precious and sad about that moment, but somehow, it gave me strength. The beauty we had just witnessed made me feel alive, aware of myself and our surroundings. I felt primal, human. It was indescribable - a very surreal feeling, and I don't know why it happened to affect me so. But the sudden rush of emotion pouring through me was almost overwhelming. I scanned the sky yearning for one last glimpse of our rainbow, but the moment had passed. 

The grey clouds covered the last vestiges of the sun, and we felt the first cool drops of a light drizzle patter down upon us. As we turned to go back into the house, a light monsoon breeze whispered past us, ruffling my hair.

"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

- Albert Einstein

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