OOMMEN: Singing in the rain

I spent Monday evening alone in my room listening to music, watching movies and thinking how much I preferred the stormy weather outside to the sandstorm that was going on back in the United Arab Emirates, the Middle Eastern country I grew up in.

Even though Hurricane Sandy is doing more damage than just causing sandy areas around the streets, sometimes rain and cloudy days can be a total relief that quenches the thirst of people like me who have had to bear extremely warm and dry climate conditions.

Back home it would rain heavily only twice a year, and all the students would get super excited. Though we never got days off because the weather wasn’t so harsh that there was ever any risk involved, school was 10 times more entertaining with wet clothes and wet hair. Even after years of this pattern, some places back home still weren’t prepared for heavy rain, so they would get flooded, just enough to cover your feet. It was always a good time.

During summer holidays, I would vacation in colder countries, and the worst part of the returning home was facing the glaring sun and the sudden suffocation brought by the heat. Venturing outside in the UAE was a painful punishment, and students preferred sitting in detention in the freezing air-conditioned indoors as opposed to playing basketball outside.

Thankfully, my return trip to the UAE this December will be much more bearable.

It will be winter there, which is comparable to a beautiful fall day in Boston.

However, I fear returning to Boston in January. The cold will be a rude awakening to someone who spent a month in the UAE.

But back to Hurricane Sandy.

There are the people who run outside when it’s raining, listen to depressing songs and embrace the melancholy sentiments of the cloudy skies, pretending like they’re in a sad, underrated movie.

Then there are the people who moan and groan about the rain showers and wish the sun would shine because it would lighten their moods. What these people need to think about is how annoying it would be if the sun shined all day. What if every time they stepped outside, they had to cover their eyes from the glare and after walking for 10 minutes, they got all hot and sweaty and ended up having a headache? Fun in the sun? I don’t think so. Trust me. I know.

I think every one needs a rainy day, especially after a week of midterms, assignments, Halloween activities and everything else that keeps the blood pumping.

It was nice to just let the rain and wind take over the day and have everyone stay inside and relax, well … as long as there was electricity and food.