Chasing the Monsoon: Memories of a Rainy Munnar

"The first sound I ever heard were those of falling rain."

That is how Alexander Frater begins his famous book Chasing the Monsoon.
Whenever I read that line, I think of Munnar.
I was born and brought up here. So, for me, the monsoon is not a season I discovered later in life. It is part of my childhood, my home and my memories.
When I think of the monsoon in Munnar, I don't first think about misty mountains or waterfalls.
I think of paper boats, tea workers in the rain, tadpoles, firewood on heads, and rain dancing on colocasia leaves


The Munnar of My Childhood


During the monsoon, the small roadside canals and streams around Munnar would fill with water.
We would make paper boats and carefully place them in the flowing water. Then we would run alongside them, watching our boats travel further and further away until they disappeared around a bend.
Sometimes we would catch ants, put them carefully on a leaf and send the leaf floating down a small stream. We would follow it for as long as we could.
At that age, these were our adventures.
When the rain became lighter, we had another game. We would stand under a small tree and shake its branches. The rainwater collected on the leaves would suddenly fall over us like another shower.
We would laugh, run away and do it again.
And then there was football.
A muddy open ground after a few days of rain was enough to start a match. The ball would get covered in mud, our clothes would become dirty and nobody really cared.
We just wanted to keep playing.
That is how I remember the monsoon.
It never kept us indoors.
It took us outside.
 

When the Hills Turn Green


There is a very different feeling in Munnar after the first proper rains.
The tea plantations become greener. The trees look freshly washed. Mist begins moving through the valleys. Small streams appear along the hillsides.
And the waterfalls come alive.
Attukad Waterfalls is one of the places where you can see this transformation beautifully.
During the drier months, the waterfall can be relatively quiet. But when the monsoon arrives, Attukad changes completely. Water rushes down through the rocks, the surrounding hills turn deep green and the sound of the waterfall carries across the valley.
Munnar has many waterfalls and seasonal cascades, some well known and many hidden among the hills. After a good spell of rain, you can suddenly discover water flowing down a hillside where there was almost nothing a few weeks earlier.
One such place is Pullumala Waterfalls, just around 500 metres from Blanket Riverside Resort & Spa.
It is one of those beautiful little places that reminds me why I love exploring Munnar.
You don't always have to go looking for the famous sights.
Sometimes, the most beautiful ones are hiding very close to where you are staying.


My Favourite View of Attukad

There is one view of Attukad that is particularly special to me.
The view from our Falls View Restaurant at Blanket Hotel & Spa,a luxury resort in munnar.
You can sit down with a meal or a cup of tea and watch Attukad flowing across the valley.
During the monsoon, the waterfall, mist, rain, tea plantations and mountains come together in a way that is difficult to describe.
Having grown up in Munnar, I have seen this waterfall from many places. But I still feel that there is no other spot in Munnar that gives you quite the same ethereal view of Attukad Waterfalls as our Falls View Restaurant.
And perhaps that is what makes the experience special.
You don't have to rush.
You can simply sit and watch the rain and the waterfall.


The People of the Tea Hills


Another sight I associate strongly with the Munnar monsoon is the tea plantation workers beginning their day.
Rain does not stop the rhythm of the tea gardens.
I have seen tea harvesters walking through the plantations in heavy rain, sometimes barefoot, wearing sweaters and several layers of clothing to protect themselves from the cold. Plastic covers help protect them from the rain.
There is something beautiful about seeing them moving through the mist-covered tea gardens.
The monsoon brings fresh growth to the tea bushes and gives the hills the deep green colour that Munnar is known for.
The people who work among these plantations are an important part of this landscape and its story.
For me, seeing them walking through the tea gardens on a rainy morning is as much a part of Munnar as the waterfalls.


The Tadpoles I Thought Were Fish


Some of my funniest monsoon memories are from the seasonal ponds and streams around Munnar.
When the rain filled these little ponds, we would go looking for tadpoles.
We were convinced they were tiny fish.
We would catch them, take them home and put them in a bowl. Every day we would check on them.
Then one day, they would start growing legs.
That was when we realised our little fish were actually going to become frogs.
I sometimes wonder if those childhood experiences had something to do with my interest in herping today.
There is something fascinating about looking closely at the small creatures that appear when the rains arrive—frogs, tadpoles, reptiles and other life that becomes active during the wet season.
Today, our guests can experience this side of Munnar too.
We organise herping experiences in and around our resorts, especially at Blanket Riverside, where the streams, forests and wet surroundings create a wonderful environment to discover amphibians and reptiles.
What began for me as a child catching what I thought were fish has, in a small way, become another way of appreciating the natural world around Munnar.

 
Rain Gave Us Everything


I also remember playing with colocasia leaves after the rain.
The large leaves would collect water in the middle. We would shake them , balance and watch the water move across the leaf before falling down.
We didn't need much.
A leaf could become a toy.
A muddy field could become a football ground.
And a piece of paper could become a boat.
The rain gave us enough.


The Rain Is Life


Today, working in hospitality, I see many people visiting Munnar simply to enjoy the beauty of the monsoon.
But growing up here taught me that rain is much more than beautiful scenery.
The rain fills the streams, rivers and reservoirs.
Mattupetty and Kundala are important parts of Munnar's water system. The water collected here contributes to hydroelectric power generation and supports agriculture and communities beyond these hills.
The tea plantations also depend on the rhythm of the rain.
So when we see the waterfalls becoming stronger, the streams flowing and the reservoirs filling, we are seeing much more than a beautiful landscape.
We are seeing the hills being replenished.


Why People Come Looking for Rain


Something I have noticed through my work at Blanket Hotel is how much visitors enjoy experiencing something that we sometimes take for granted.
Many of our guests from the Middle East and other Gulf countries come to Munnar because they want to experience Kerala's rain.
For them, sitting in a cool mountain climate, watching rain fall over endless green hills, can be completely different from what they experience at home.
They enjoy the mist.
They enjoy the waterfalls.
They enjoy the cold weather.
And sometimes, they simply want to sit with a cup of tea and watch the rain.
I understand that feeling.
Even after growing up here, I still enjoy doing exactly the same thing.


The Monsoon Is Changing


Traditionally, we wait for the southwest monsoon around June.
Growing up in Munnar, June meant rain. We knew the season was changing when the skies became darker and the first proper showers arrived.
But the monsoon does not always behave the same way anymore.
The 2026 southwest monsoon had an unusual beginning, with a delayed and weak early phase influenced by broader atmospheric and oceanic conditions.
For someone who has grown up here, you notice these changes.
You look at the sky.
You wait for the rain.
You wonder when the waterfalls will start flowing properly.
And when the real monsoon arrives, there is still that same excitement.


Chasing the Monsoon


Alexander Frater travelled across India chasing the monsoon.
I never had to travel far to find it.
I grew up in it.
I have chased paper boats along roadside streams.
I have sent ants sailing away on leaves.
I have shaken trees to make rainwater fall on my friends.
I have played football in muddy fields.
I have caught tadpoles believing they were fish.
I have watched tea harvesters walk through the mist and rain.
I have watched Attukad and the other waterfalls become louder and the hills become greener.
And today, when I sit at Blanket Hotel & Spa and look towards Attukad, I still get the same feeling I had as a child.
The feeling that something beautiful is happening outside.
Maybe that is why I love the monsoon.
For a visitor, it is a season to experience.
For me, it is home.
So, if you come to Munnar during the rains, don't be afraid of getting a little wet.
Go looking for the waterfalls.
Discover the hidden ones too.
Walk through the mist.
Watch the tea gardens turn green.
Look closely at the streams—you never know what you might find.
Sit at our Falls View Restaurant and watch Attukad come alive.
Or, if nature interests you, join a herping experience around Blanket Riverside and discover some of the small creatures that come alive with the rain.
And if the rain starts falling while you are there, don't rush inside.
Stay for a while.
Listen to it.
Watch it.


Because the Munnar I know best is the Munnar I remember in the rain.
— Nikhil Francis

Manager - Business Development,
Blanket Hotel & Resorts
Munnar born and brought up.