THE CACOPHONY OF NOISES ON A RAINY NIGHT

                     A night of intermittent rain may be annoying to many, but I am really fascinated by the cacophony of noises that I hear when everyone in our family is lost in a slumber. Behind the bolted doors, at my Raikia home, I have listened to the music of Nature on a rainy night a number of times, especially during a power cut. The incessant pattering of rain drops on the roof, the guttural twang of the croaking frogs beneath our windows, the shrill chirruping of the cicadas  rising to a crescendo from their hiding places, the  rumble of thunder, the howling of the wind, the soughing of the trees and the whimpering of the pariah dogs keep me awake the whole night. At that time my mind is  filled with wonder while  thinking of such a complex variation in noises and sounds of animals and forces of nature that God has created with His intelligence. More than those discordant noises, the inky blackness of the night  causes a sense of fear in me. At times  the rainy night seems to whisper into my ears  the words of assurance that I should not fear anybody, because Nature is with me.

( Writer - Dr. Pradeep Kumar Nayak )