India, Aug. 31 -- The monsoons this year have wrought great damage. Many states across India, especially in the Himalayan region, have suffered massive flooding, causing great misery and loss of property and lives. Our hearts go out to those who have died, are injured, have suffered loss of property, or been rendered homeless.

And yet, for millions of others, the monsoons bring relief from the burning heat of summer. In fact, in Indian literature, the rainy season is identified with a huge corpus of romantic poetry. Many people may not be aware that Tulsidas, in the Ramcharitmanas, paints one of the most evocative portraits of the beauty of this season. He does so when Ram and Lakshman, after Sita has been abducted by Ravana, are combing...