Catch a rainbow

The last perfect rainbow I saw was many many years ago, maybe 1999 or  2000, at the wedding of a friend's sister. It was the monsoon, and it was very cold. In the distance I saw the most perfect rainbow ever, and though it was quite far away I can still see in my mind's eye how it arched over the mountains, suspending itself in the crispy clear evening air, as if celebrating the joyous occasion with us.

It has been raining very sincerely the last few days, with news of landslides and road blockages filling the airwaves and television channels. But today the rain let down in the afternoon and around 4 the rain had slowed to a drizzle, and the sky had turned blue, accompanied by a bright dazzling sunlight that blinds you. I immediately thought, wow there must be a rainbow somewhere, and peeked out the window, stretching my gaze to the horizon, as far as my myopic eyes would allow, looking for a rainbow. Alas, I did not find one, much to my disappointment. However, it turns out that a few rainbows had appeared in some parts of town, and below is one such rainbow photographed by fellow blogger Joseph. Beautiful, isn't it?

And then there is the song - Catch the Rainbow by Rainbow.

Forgetting English

I read recent blogposts of my blogger friends Mizohican and Kukui, and I was again amazed at the ease with which they write their posts in English, and of course their mastery of the language. I must admit I was a little envious.

It’s been two months since I quit my job and came home, which means I have been communicating in Mizo the whole time, except for the two weeks I spent in Guwahati where one has to communicate in Hindi and English.

Back in Hyderabad I had to use English five days of the week; and in the two days I was at home used Mizo and Hindi and English. I read English newspapers and books, watched English movies at home and at cinemas, and used English when I went shopping. My thoughts were in English, and my silent prayers were often a mix of Mizo and English. (God understands all languages and thoughts, right?)

Then I came home, and it felt good and easy to use one language all the time, with everyone, everywhere.  The newspapers are in Mizo, the TV programs are in Mizo, and there are numerous movies and serials (English, Hindi, Korean) dubbed in Mizo, but so far I haven’t watched any of them. Suddenly it seems there is no reason to use English anymore, unless your job requires it. But the thing is, except for the teaching profession there is hardly any job here which requires one to communicate in English. The only time I used English was when I went to the BSNL office and spoke to one official regarding the phone bill.

What I'm trying to say here is, I think I'm slowly forgetting English. I know, I know, it’s been only two months, but in these two months I couldn’t write a single blogpost in  English. I tried, yes, even started a few, but got stuck after a few sentences. It’s been about 300 words so far, and I'm already scratching my head searching for thoughts and words. Could it be that I've lost all inspiration, or have been too busy doing nothing?