We’re onto the second installment of the #WordsMatter Blog Hop and our prompt for September is ‘when it rains’. Shalini, Parul and I thank you for your great response this month too. I’ve invited Priyanka Nateri to write today’s post. Take it away, Priyanka.
When It Rains
While the tea brews and the overcast sky spurs birds to sing joyful melodies in the air punctuated with pitter-patter of raindrops, I am reminded of Bill Watterson’s quote “Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book.”
While the soft drizzle and the earthy smell of damp soil create a soothing ambience, nothing can quite beat the combination of a strong cup of invigorating coffee or chai with samosas. Could there be anything more perfect to experience the monsoon magic? Yes, the coziness of a rainy day takes it up a notch by a good book. Reading itself is such a beautiful experience but it turns out more therapeutic on rainy days. And if you have been putting off reading a specific book since weeks, this is the best time to finish it. Whether you are a bibliophile or a pluviophile or both, go on a reading spree. Though on one hand rains might give you ten reasons of inconvenience, there is one beautiful reason of staying indoors, curled up on the couch, with a cuppa and a book.
The blissful beverages not only refresh us every morning but also make the intermittent monsoon showers more enjoyable. While some cappuccino enthusiasts like it with velvety foam, few others revel in the aroma of freshly brewed filter coffee. As for tea fanatics, the concoctions include English Breakfast tea, heart-warming Assam blend but the piquant masala chai with a dash of ginger is relished better while it rains. For those who like it mild, there’s aromatic chamomile or the delicate green tea to invigorate the mind on a drizzly noon. And what is tea/coffee without a crispy and spicy accompaniment like pakora, samosa and mirchi bhajji (fritters). The memory of a good cup of coffee or chai will stay with you long, when it is paired with a good book. There is a special connection between books and coffee, both go hand in hand. The trio of rain, coffee and books create a quick escape from the hustle bustle of the city, whisking you away from traffic snarls, blaring horns, puddles and potholes. And if you are blessed with a room with a view, you can revel in the beauty of the falling rain as you turn the pages of your favourite book, while sipping your favourite brew and munch on those fritters. Can there be more bliss than this?
Some books seem to go well with the weather and the beverage, giving a new perspective to your reading. The pleasant and harsh wilderness of countryside in Emily Bronte’s ‘’Wuthering heights’’, the mysterious and foggy moor in Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘’The Hound of the Baskervilles’’, mesmerizing valleys and wooded hills in Ruskin Bond’s ‘’Landour Days’’, to name a few that will set the right mood.
When the skies turn dark, the winds scream and it is about to rain, pause your errands and get yourself a cuppa, a book and enjoy the moment as the master storyteller Ruskin Bond puts it, “Savour those moments, for they will not come in your way very often.’’
What’s your most preferred beverage while reading? Do you have any rainy-day book recommendations?
I received this tag from Parul at Happiness and Food. It’s my pleasure to pass on this tag to Vinay at I Rhyme Without Reason. There are 42 of us on this Blog Hop and it will be spread over 3 days – 6, 7, 8 September 2019. Do follow the #WordsMatter Blog Hop and prepare to be surprised!
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Exactly my idea of a rainy day! A cup of strong ginger tea, a cozy comfy place to lie down with a good book! Ah that’s blissful
Jyoti Babel recently posted…When It Rains #WordsMatter
My favourite rainy day snack has to be a packet of spicy potato chips, accompanied by a tearjerker romance.
I love sipping on my hot cup of tea when it rains and some crispy pakodas to go with it. Any book which I enjoy reading will find its place in my hand. It’s so blissful to even think about it. Here it hardly rains, so such luxuries come by far and few. I loved reading your rainy day account, Priyanka. 🙂
Vinitha recently posted…Reflecting Void Thoughts Podcast 02 | Lessons from 2019
Yes Rain, few lip smacking snacks and favorite hot beverages and an interesting book are surely a heavenly combination.
For me it is adrak chai if it rains in the evening and coffee otherwise. Any book will do as long as I can sit and watch the rain drops fall down.
For me any genre is fine as long the book has the smooth flow. Rain drops sound in the background lends a pleasant feeling altogether
I prefer a hot cup of coffee when it rains. As for books I have no specific choice. Whatever comes along and if I find it interesting I go ahead with it. As far as rains are concerned, I love to see the rains but not get wet, like drenched in the rain. #WordsMatter
Shubhra Rastogi recently posted…When It Rains #Words Matter
It is not that I don’t like coffee, in-fact i love it but I have this rule in my life that I don’t want to make it a habit of having coffee daily and reach a stage where the coffee controls my mornings 😀
But I do enjoy reading books by Ruskin Bond during those pleasant times. It sets the mood right as you said.
Ginger tea and a book that has a happy ending are my favourite two things on a rainy day. Love your book choices too. A room with a view is ideal for enjoying the beauty of the falling rain. Lovely post.
I associate Stephen King with rains… not really because of any specific book but because I have a vague childhood memory of sitting up during heavy rains as I kid and finishing book after book of his. It was a weird thing – as I kid, I felt he was overrated (he tends to bloat the stories, taking a 1000 words to say a 200 word thingy) and yet, I would go to the library and pick up the next King novel after I was done with the last…
For some reason, this came to mind now 🙂
Roshan Radhakrishnan recently posted…How to Protect Yourself from Seasonal Illnesses When It Rains #WordsMatter
I miss the rainstorms up north. Here, it seems to be all or nothing; there, the occasional squall blows through and the multihued light inside the rainbow gives an ethereal color cast to the leaves and grass. The air, itself, shimmers. The smell of petrichor is something you can taste on your tongue and it is sweeter, even, than tea. But it has been a long while since we’ve seen anything but brilliant blue skies, here. Like I said, all or nothing – soon as I write the words, we’ll have a deluge.
Holly Jahangiri recently posted…A Morning Bath #WordsMatter #WhenItRains
mirchi pakoda with chai is perfect on a rainy day. I am currently reading two books – a paperback and an ebook. But on rainy days, it feels good to sit with a paperback in hand.
Glad to be a part of blog hop. 🙂
Rajlakshmi recently posted…Diabolical| Haibun #WordsMatter
I love sipping on hot coffee and reading a nice mushy romance when it rains. And if I am reading in the evening, I prefer having a hot Bovril soup with my evening read. Currently, I am reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni in this very wet Mumbai monsoon.
A cosy corner with a view, cup of kappi on a rainy day aptly complemented with a book is the best way to have a date with self! These days have offered me many such dates courtesy Orange alert here in Mumbai. It can’t get any better!
I love to have coffee on my coach near the window, and read a book. Rains always reminds me of my childhood days in Coonoor. There would suddenly be hail stones falling all around and we would run to collect them.
Ahh I think any book is a good book when it rains. But I think historical fiction is what I’d go with and some ginger tea to go with it!!
I love it when it rains abd I am at home or somewhere close to nature.Books,chai and travel to green places are on my lips when it rains.
Rains are synonymous with a good book and a hot cup of masala tea. I love reading in my balcony with my large mug of tea while its raining. Aah! I am yearning to recreate this beautiful me-time, now!!
Chai and pakoras for me please when it rains – they are the ultimate duo for me and a rainy day is incomplete with them. I also love to go get drenched in that absolute torrential downpour that promises to last for a while. Generally a feeling of utter bliss and laziness is what signs off a rainy day for me.
Good to read your thoughts Priyanka and happy making your acquaintance 🙂
I definitely agree with you! Rains, Books and Tea/Coffee are the perfect trio. On rainy days I dont feel like working as I feel like picking up a book and reading.
Reema D’souza recently posted…When it rains #WordsMatter
When it rains and I am home with time in hand, this is exactly what I do. Make a piping hot cuppa of ginger tea and find something to read. Sometimes, a good article is also a good company.
Lovely write up, Priyanka! Nice to meet you. 🙂
Parul Thakur recently posted…When it rains #WordsMatter
The romanticism with the rain, a hot drink and a book! And may be the pakoras too. But, who will fry the pakodas? Not me. Is there a magic wand somewhere? Anywhere?
Anamika Agnihotri recently posted…People are . . . exhausting #BookBytes 8
Chai and samosas or pakoda and a good book with your dog curled on your feet. My idea of heaven!
A good book and a hot beverage makes good company in the rain, no doubt. 🙂 Loved the post.
Leo recently posted…When it rains… #WordsMatter
I love chilled coffee and a samosa to go with it. Just imagining the whole scene of rains, books, coffee and samosa makes me go weak in the knees! It’s lunch time now, but I am craving coffee! 😛
I would love to read a suspense, or a murder, a thriller that makes me keep turning the pages as I sip the coffee and listen to the pitter-patter of the rains outside!
Ha! I started my post with the same quote!! Rainy day book recommendations? I think something romantic, like Gone with the Wind or Bridges Over Madison County would be such a compliment to the pitter-patter of the rain and a steaming cup of black coffee.
Modern Gypsy recently posted…When it rains
Loved the post because, surprise, surprise – my post is also about a book on a rainy day. Isn’t that a coincidence? Or maybe not – rainy days really are made for reading so no surprises that a lot of us sit down with a cup of tea and a book when the God’s oblige.
Obsessivemom recently posted…All for the Perfect Match #BookBytes 15
This is exactly what I feel during rains, Priyanka. Favorite beverage shift between hot chocolate, masala chai and coffee. But my favorite book during rains would be any Mills and Boon! 🙂
I am almost feeling lethargy creep in after reading this post Corinne! Dang! If only “someone else” sprung me up with a platter of bhajias and hot kaapi, I’d be in heaven! Rains are best enjoyed sitting cozy at home tucked with mushy romances, not in caught in the maniac traffic and floods!
I love when it rains and I’m at home to enjoy the downpour from the warm confines of my home, watching the views and soaking in the ambience with a good cup of tea. It’s an altogether different experience when I’m out in the city, or have to travel back home and the streets are a mess!!
for me, a good thriller book goes well with spicy tea when it rains outside.