India, Aug. 6 -- Not everyone is a fan of the monsoons (because, you know, waterlogging, bad traffic, humidity off the charts) but I have to confess that I rather enjoy the season. And one of the reasons for that is that the rains seem to wash everything clean. The trees seem greener, flowers have a fresh sheen on them, and the grass has a new springiness. All of which, to me at least, seem to signal that Nature has been given a renewed lease of life by the advent of the rains.

It is this sense of fresh beginnings that makes me love the monsoon so much (and no, it's not the pakoras, though I am quite partial to them as well). But as I was sitting on my balcony, watching the rain cascade down, it suddenly occurred to me that new beginning...