Thunder and lightning

“When Grandma heard thunder’s first throaty murmur

She threw down her duster, or let dishes clatter in the sink,
grabbed Dad’s hand and ran to the foot of the stairs.
Protected from the storm by a windowless door
she sang him Blue Moon in a trembling voice,
trying to drown the dark rumble,
holding him like a comfort blanket”


Fear Of Thunder by Andrew Forster



My mother who is nearing eighty behaves like a small child when thunder and lightning strike. She screams , orders us to draw the curtains and clings on to the nearest available human support for dear life. D4 our house had wooden windows but my present apartment has all glass windows. The effect of lightning during the night can be visually stunning. In D4 mother was protected by the heavy wooden windows but the glass windows reveal nature’s fury in full form. My mother’s fear is natural and her actions are so spontaneous that sometimes it defies logic. But I simply love the spectacle of a stormy night .

There is a superstition in Bengal that a marriage ceremony hit by thunder and lightning brings ill luck to the couple. My mother’s elder sister known for her beauty was married off to a prosperous groom at the age of seventeen. The marriage ceremony was held in their ancestral house in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) .The ceremony was completely wrecked by devastating rains, thunder and lightning that evening. This was just before the partition of Bengal. Within months my uncle’s family lost everything and crossed over to India as refugees. Thereafter it was a tale of struggle for survival. My aunt who retired as a school teacher never had an easy life. My mother sometimes remembers the gentle, graceful girl of the past who had become completely toughened by the trials and tribulations of life.


This might be a coincidence but the incident was symbolic and that night it had brought deep gloom to the family and filled the parent’s heart with foreboding.