June 10. “Remember me telling you about the cuckoo and how its arrival heralds the rain?”

“I remember.”

“Finally, bird enthusiasts have been researching the fact if the pied cuckoo really forecasts the monsoon.”

“And?”

“This association between the rainy season and the arrival of the bird is as widespread as it is old. In his poem Meghaduta, the poet Kalidasa, draws parallels between the thirst of the pied cuckoo for the rain and the yearning of a pious heart for the divine. In parts of north India, the bird is known as ‘chatak’ or the one that lives on drops of rain. Its black crest is construed as a second beak that points up at the sky, waiting for rain to quench its thirst. Farmers in Gujarat have christened the pied cuckoo ‘kharadiyo’ because they believe that its song is louder and more plaintive than kharad, the intermittent dry period between rainy days.”

“I love these anecdotes .”

“There are many more stories found in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal but, as interesting as they may be, they don’t qualify as scientific evidence.”

“I hear cuckoos calling out every day but the monsoons haven’t arrived yet!”

“It’s time you sent up one more prayer.”