It has started raining in Mumbai. The Meteorological department says these are pre-Monsoon showers. Ah…! The free creatures (such as me) living on mother earth are least concerned about the technical crap. I get delighted seeing the rain: it gives me very elementary joyous feeling and I feel my soul celebrating.

Joining the party from nowhere are other insects – snails, earthworms, frogs and so on. Frogs are quicker than the cocks (the ones that go cock-a-doodle-doo) and their screeching croaks start very early, most of the times disturbing my lovely dreams. I happened to go to the Bhagshala maidan for a pre-dawn stroll one day and from a long distance I could hear hundreds of frogs croaking distinctly, in unision. It was sortof scary! I hate frogs.

Ever since I was a little boy, I was always attracted to earthworms. I may not find puppies and cats ‘cute’ but I do think earthworms are (You should stop gauging me by conventional benchmarks). I remember grabbing them from everywhere – under big rocks, on old brick walls or simply while wriggling across – and collecting them. I saw the first earthworm of this season in mom’s garden and I was thrilled (so was he, i think!)

Speaking of mom’s plants, they will soon be vulnerable to attacks from the mighty snails determined to gulp down every bit of greenery. I don’t love or hate snails, but I find them rather funny, with huge shells on their backs and crawling at – should we say – ‘snail’s pace’. However, they eat a lot and shit a lot, which is messy.

Welcome little friends

• Privet (10)
• to rick it out (6)
• The perfume seller (8)
• Rains, finally (0)
• Not my work (5)