Unfurl the umbrellas

As the umbrella became ubiquitous, its shape, size and colour have taken different patterns now.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

As I stepped out of the cab, the tour guide offered me a yellow umbrella to protect myself from the drizzle. I was visiting a few pagodas in Bangkok and though I was sweltering in the hot and humid weather in the previous two days, I was caught unawares by the sudden showers. Since I was worried that the rain could play spoilsport, I felt that the umbrella offered to me was a symbol of kindness. Umbrellas have always been emblems of love and affection.

The guide’s act kindled nostalgic memories of my childhood of the 1990s. My mother was working in an office then, and she commuted by town bus every day. It would take a 30-minute walk for her from our home to the bus stop. Often, when there were unexpected rain in the evening, my father would ask me to walk to the bus stop and wait with an additional umbrella in hand. As a child, I found it to be a boring task since I would not know when she would come, but the smile on my mother’s face when she would see me waiting for her with the umbrella is well-etched in my memory.

Umbrellas have been in existence for many years ever since man understood the importance of a shade. Originally invented and used to protect oneself from the sun, the umbrella found its purpose to keep us dry from the rain too. It was a status symbol in the past as only the rich owned it. The women folk used to flaunt it during their stroll across the streets. The rich men used it like a cane, swinging it as they walked majestically. Over the years, the benefits of this simple contraption was well perceived by everyone and slowly the umbrella infiltrated the homes of all people across all strata. My grandfather never used to leave the house without an umbrella in his hand. He used it as a multi-purpose object — walking stick, weapon to “shoo” off the stray dogs, protector from the vagaries of nature and companion. When it developed a snag, he immediately got it repaired from an umbrella mender on the street. Such menders are also extinct now. My mom used to keep it to scare away the crows when drying the grains and fritters on the terrace.

As the umbrella became ubiquitous, its shape, size and colour have taken different patterns now. The standard long, blackish dainty umbrella with a pointed tip has given way to multi-coloured, foldable, and button-operated foldable ones. It is as if someone has shrunk a mighty tusker into a bottle. But the unassuming umbrella continues to be supportive and serves as a medium of love and affection. Today’s young generation find the umbrella as a thing of the past and an anachronism. We see umbrellas only in marriage halls where photographers use them as reflectors, and as props in film songs. But rain or shine, hardly do we see people on the streets carrying the umbrella, except for the older generation.

As a child, I used to remember the exact location behind the door where the house umbrella would be, but now I don’t know where our loyal and affectionate umbrellas are lumbering in our homes waiting for us to be carried.

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