The small and intimate joys of the Indian monsoon

Stephen Alter’s tiny book takes the reader on a cultural and nature voyage to the heart of the romance of the rains

- Bibek Bhattacharya

In these perilous times of climate change, the monsoon is synonymous with suffering.

Every year, the advent of the annual rains is preceded by forecasts from the India Meteorological Department, and they are one of two kinds. The first type of forecast sighs with relief, predicting normal or above-normal rains. The second is grim, tinged with doom, the unwilling bearer of the bad news that this year the rains will be below normal. As, by the way, is the case with 2026.

Stephen Alter’s slim book, The Fragrance of Rain: A Brief History of the Monsoon, is a quiet reminder of why the monsoon plays such a vital role in the life rhythm of the Indian subcontinent. Alter—a lifelong native of Mussoorie—has certainly written weightier, more meaningful books than this one, but the charm of The Fragrance of Rain lies in the fact that it is a breeze to read, yet packed with ideas and experiences that are highly evocative.

For Alter leans unabashedly into the romance of the monsoon rains, in a refreshing departure from the doom-laden reality of droughts, cloudbursts, landslides, floods and countless meaningless deaths that dominate headlines every year from June to September. Instead, in this book, the reader will find transporting descriptions of pre-monsoon rains in Landour, the pregnant wait for the arrival of the monsoon in Kochi, and, a favourite of this reviewer, an night walk through a Goan forest during the rains.