It rained today.
We've had a couple of false alarms in the past month with misleading grey skies, and disregarding the drizzle that lasted all for five minutes many nights ago, today was our first rain day since our arrival in December.
Unlike back home in Singapore's temperamental climate, I've awoken to brilliant sunshine everyday for the past three months, and I've unknowingly taken the dry weather for granted. Still, the rain was a welcome respite from the increasing heat of the approaching Indian summer.
The waning sunlight giving way to overcast skies.
The patter of raindrops against the windowpanes.
The musky smell of damp earth and rain-soaked leaves.
The ominous yet strangely familiar rumble of thunder.
The tranquil quiet of the after-rain.
Funny how it took a change in elements to remind me of home and the inexplicable beauty of the Spottiswoode Park estate after a rainstorm.
As I have told those who asked, coming on this exchange programme has taught me more about life and myself than anything academic, if any at all.
No matter how frequent, my past travels were mostly short jaunts that did not keep me away from home for a week or two at most. Despite my seemingly insatiable wanderlust, I had always pegged myself as someone who would settle down in Singapore. I thought I was too much a creature of comfort to actually enjoy being out of my comfort zone for too long a period.
However, living away from home these past months has made me realize just how big the world is, and just how infinite the options life can bring. And if anything, I have also learnt that I am more self-sufficient than I gave myself credit for.
I have yet to be struck with homesickness, though I sometimes think fondly of the life I left behind. Homecoming would no doubt be sweet and heartening, but my life and its possibilities would not cease there in sunny Singapore.
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