Perhaps it’s a bit of a cliché to use the phrase “calm before the storm”, but that’s exactly what it was. The sun was setting and clouds were gathering – the grey sky occasionally illuminated by a flash of lightning, although thunder never followed. Lately, Cochin has been having rains that are seemingly erratic to someone who hasn’t lived here long, but to the locals, they’re as predictable as… well, the seasons.

Scientifically speaking, the monsoons are only phenomena in the broadest sense of the word – the same way gravity, the laws of motion, and light are phenomena: phenomenal.  The very fact that they exist is spectacular, but (climate change aside) they are regular and precise, and as in Croatia, culturally significant.