The Contest Between The Sun and The Cloud

Many years ago, when I was still a child, my father had read me a story from one of my story books. The story was as follows :

Once there was a fight between the sun and the clouds. Both were out to prove that the other one was inferior to it. The sun boasted about its power and glory while the clouds spoke about how it was the preserver of life on earth and how it could provided much relief to everyone when the sun was at its tyrannical best. To sort out the matter amongst themselves, they decided to test their skills and see whether one of them could out-do the other.

As they looked down from the heavens, they saw a frail old man walking down a road. The man wore a coat that covered him all the way down to his knee. The sun and the cloud decided to target this particular man. Whoever could force the man to remove his coat would be declared as the more superior of the two. Both Sun and the Clouds agreed.

It was decided that the clouds will try its luck first. It suddenly turned all dark as the cloud spread its arms all across the sky. The sun was blotted out and in the absence of the sun’s warmth, everything began to turn cold. The air, which hitherto had been warm and blowing gently, turned chilly and was forced by the clouds to turn up its velocity. Then it began to rain. The clouds burst forth with all its fury on the poor soul below. First came the hail-storm with pebbles of solid ice descending down to the earth a great speed. Very soon the earth was covered with a layer of white ice all around. The wind picked up speed and cooled by the ice and rain, began to chill everything that came in its way. Lightening flashed at regular intervals followed by such loud claps of thunder that it seemed as if the ear-drums would be torn making everyone completely deaf.

While the clouds unleashed its fury, the sun watched the frail looking man, who was the target, anxiously. The man was trying to shelter himself from the fury of the clouds by hiding under a tree. His coat was almost drenched and water fell in a continuous trickle from the hem of the coat. However, much to the delight of the sun, the man did not remove his coat. On the contrary, he pulled the coat and wrapped it all the more tightly around him, probably to draw the last bit of warmth from the coat. When there was a loud clap of thunder, the man even tried burrowing his face into the inside of the coat in an effort to muffle the sound of thunder.

Slowly the rain ceased as the clouds failed to make the man remove his coat. The clouds cleared and slowly it began to brighten up. The sun began to peek once again from behind the thin veil of clouds. Slowly, even those thin cottony tufts of clouds disappeared and the sun was up once again, in all its glory. With its warmth, the sun began to raise the temperature all around. The air became warm once again. The ice cover melted and the water pools all around began reflecting the sun-light back. The man’s coat soon dried up. Under the impact of the fierce rays of the sun, he began to feel hot. As he started walking once again, the coat, which hitherto was providing him warmth, began to feel unbearable. Very soon, he started sweating and it became no longer possible for him to keep the coat on his body. It was then that he removed the coat from his body and breathed a sigh of relief!

The sun had won the contest!

Cut to the present times now!

The cloud couldn’t forget the beating it had to take from the sun and thirsted for revenge. He knew he had to out-smart the sun somehow if it had to de-throne the sun from its victorious position. So one day, he decided to throw another challenge to the sun.

“Will you be able to make the young lady working on terrace, shed her “dupatta”, asked the cloud.

The sun had been basking in the glow of the victory of the cloud and had become a little over-confident. He mistook this for a similar contest as the one he had won many years back. After all, who can ignore my furious heat, he thought to himself. He agreed.

The cloud asked the sun to have a first go this time. Victors should get the first preference, he told the sun. The sun agreed.

Gradually the sun began to raise its heat. People down below on the earth, began to feel uneasy because of the heat. Sweat started trickling down from the faces and other pores of the body. People began to long for some shade to escape the rays of the sun. The lady, who was busy working on the terrace began to feel the heat too. She used her dupatta to cover her face and shield it from the harsh rays of the sun. In the stifling heat, the dupatta became her companion and a useful tool as she used a part of the same to fan her face and wipe the sweat from her neck and chin.

The tiny speck of cloud at the distant horizon was watching this with bated breath. He was already sniffing a victory and therefore came flying down from the horizon aided by its companion, the wind. What initially was a small blotch of black in the distant horizon soon grew into a giant cauliflower like shape rushing to spread itself all over the blue sky. No sooner had the sun been effectively covered, then it began to grow cooler. The wind picked up speed and began fanning the hitherto sweating face of the lady. It carried the smell of the musty earth making the lady feel a romantic inclination. She immediately uncovered her face and with face raised skywards began to enjoy the cool wind rustling her hair and her cheeks. It reminded her of her lover who would touch her cheeks with his lips sending a shiver down her spine. Her dupatta was now fluttering in the breeze threatening to blow away and a look at the lady’s smiling face and closed eyes indicated that she didn’t give a damn.

Very soon, the drops of rain began to pelt the earth. They were slow at first gradually increasing in intensity until it was like a steady gentle stream of cold water rushing down from the heavens above!

After all who doesn’t love to get drenched in the rains? The lady removed her dupatta and holding on to one end of it in her outstretched hands, she began to go round and round. It was as if she wanted the rains to drench her body, mind and even down to the core of her soul making her feel rejuvenated and fresh! The dark grey clouds had splashed her soul with vivid shades of colour and the rhythmic sound of the falling rain found a perfect companion in her tapping footsteps!

In the distance there was a mild clap of thunder! Even the cloud couldn’t help appreciating the spirit of happiness of the lady!