The Rains (Jogja In November)

The rain arrived Friday last week around lunch-time, black clouds up in the north drifting over from Merapi. In Jakarta and Sumatra they had arrived the week before and instantly caused flooding. On Sunday community action on the Ciliwung River in North Jakarta had cleared rubbish washed downstream which had added to the problem. On the same page of the Jak Post today another related item announced the intention of the police to issue fines for motorists who parked under bridges and overpasses during rain-storms. Warnings would initially be given and no action taken against bike-riders who merely stopped to don weather-proofs; otherwise those attempting to wait out the rain would be issued Rp250,000 tickets ($US18.40). There had not been a drop of rain in Jogja for four or five months and it had been late arriving when it came. Friday in the Sosrowijayan urban kampung householders were immediately out clearing their gutters and drains. Rain like a heavenly assault when the clouds finally broke, fierce battalions machine-gunning the tennis court-cum-football field recently re-surfaced and painted outside Nurul Huda Mosque. With the storm too this playing field that early mornings hosted an aerobic class transformed into swimming-pool and ice-rink that Friday lunch-time for three tear-aways suddenly bursting out from the gang. Two boys and a girl throwing themselves onto the green waves, diving-sliding through the waters. Screams, laughs, cannon-balls and dodges, glistening chocolate and lustrous slick-back. Cavorting baby seals; mythic dolphins such as danced alongside sailors in far distant seas. Four point five years in Singapore, a feather duster would have done for the author looking on open-mouthed from beneath a shelter, staring all-agog and disbelieving. Woweee. Theme-park magically created helter-skelter without authorization, lacking safety-rails and all unsupervised. (The youngest monkey from the tiny corner-store opposite Red Palm Losmen no more than five, plenty devil in the mite, but knows to return thanks for peanuts.) No alarmed parents or elders came to interrupt the jubilation, call or scold the children.