Monsoon is well and truly here and so is the rain. And there is something magical about the rainfall that makes the world look a little different. The sound of the droplets submitting to the ground, the soothing scent of the soil as the water caresses it, and the little chill in the air that soothes your skin. There’s more about the rain though, that makes it more special especially if you have grown up in India. It doesn’t just bring the good news to the farmers around the country, but also kindles romance in the hearts of young and old. As soon as it arrives, most of us feel this incomprehensible desire to be in love and if you are in love, it demands you to be closer to the person you love. But what makes rain so special and romantic? There has to be an explanation, right? Some science to back our feelings? Turns out, there is!
What Makes Rain So Romantic?
Well, According to Farhana, a Psychologist, MendCare Clinic, Jammu And Kashmir, there is no single reason as to why we feel particularly romantic around the rainy season or rainfall generally. Farhana suggests the reasons are manifold and assures that there is nothing really magical about rain and all of those reasons could be explained using psychological principles. “However,” she adds, “there are two primary reasons.”
Pop-Culture And Reminiscence Bump
Most of us, especially from our part of the world, grow up watching movies and TV serials and since very early in our childhood, the idea of rain is romanticised through pop culture. We can name countless songs from Bollywood that show the hero and the heroine drenched in rain and dancing on the songs of love, and similarly we could identify a lot of instances even in Hollywood movies where the romance is set up against the backdrop of rain. Remember the kissing scene in the climax of the famous movie ‘The Notebook?’.
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When we make connections between two phenomena as children or young adults, as in this case between romance and rain, later in life, our brain identifies the cues and stimulates the similar feelings in us. So, when you are in your mid-30’s sipping a cup of tea with your spouse or partner and the rain starts to fall, you want to repeat that Notebook science. This psychological impulse is called Reminiscence Bump, and it makes us nostalgic and tells us to live those childhood fantasies once again, only this time, there is actually someone to share those with.
Sensory Triggors
Warm weather is sweaty, and there is dust, the heat, and all the other nuisances that wouldn’t necessarily make you feel romantic. No one thinks of romance when the sweat is dripping over your partner’s forehead, or may some do, who knows! But generally speaking the physical characteristics of hot summers are not typically associated with romance.
That being said, rains trigger various physical sensations that may potentially make you feel romantic. When rain falls, it cleans the air and brings out a certain scent of the soil, these make you feel relaxed and calm, and research suggests when you calm and at peace externally, you are likely to feel more romantic than usual. Experts point out that the sound of the raindrops pitter-pattering on rooftops and window-sills is an example of pink noise that suppresses brain activity and makes you well…a little poetic.
Bottomline
Farhana suggests there is nothing about the rain that makes you feel romantic, in fact it is the response of your psyche that does it. And cultural conventions and ideals, reinforced within us for years, contribute to that amorous feeling. But whatever it does, if you are reading this with a cup of tea or any other beverage in your hand, and there’s rain on your window sill and a partner in the next room, who cares about the reasons!