💬 The first rain smell is my favourite thing about monsoon in Hyderabad

The first rain after summer smells like wet soil. Nothing like perfume. More like someone watered a very big pot. It comes in June, usually around 5 in the evening. Every year I stop whatever I'm doing and go to the window. When I was 9 we lived on the second floor in Mehdipatnam. All the kids ran up to the terrace. My grandmother shouted from the kitchen that we'd catch a cold. Nobody listened to her, not even once. She made onion pakodas every time it rained. 4 plates for 6 of us, so someone always got half. Mine was always the half, because I was the youngest and my cousins counted very carefully. I'm not even sure the pakodas were good. I remember the oil smell and the sound of the rain on the tin sheet. Both together were the whole afternoon. Nothing happened. We just got wet and ate. Now I live on the 6th floor in Kondapur. No terrace. The balcony works fine though. Last June I stood there with a cup of tea and a neighbour's kid stood on the opposite balcony with his arms out. We waved at each other. Neither of us said a word. It lasted maybe 10 minutes. After that the rest of the monsoon is a mess. Waterlogged road, wet socks, 2 hours home last week. This year the first rain came on a Sunday at 11 at night. I was already in bed. I got up anyway and opened the window wide and let the smell in for about 5 minutes. My neighbour's dog started barking at the thunder. Somebody upstairs shouted at the dog. Then it went quiet and I went back to sleep. Best sleep of the whole month.

A big pot being watered is the best way I have heard to describe that smell.

For me it's roasted corn. The carts outside Hitech City station show up the day it first rains. 20 rupees, lime and chilli rubbed on, always burnt on one side. I like that side best. I'll disagree about the smell though. Our flat is near a drain and the first rain smells like that for 2 days.