The Fatehabad-Shamshabad road had just one brief shower, according to Ravi Singh, a farmer of Barauli Aheer. "I hope this doesn't disturb the regular monsoon," Ravi said. The morning was hazy and dust-laden with westerlies from Rajasthan piling up dust on the white marble monument. "The Taj Mahal itself looked pale and jaundiced, but then the showers accompanied by thunder surprised us all.

Soon there was more rain washing the dust off the marble monument," said hotelier Sandeep Arora of Taj Ganj.

The rather long summer this year, starting soon after Holi, was a real torment for Taj city residents with water and power supply becoming erratic and inadequate. "Almost daily we had demonstrations and road jams by angry citizens demanding water and power. Today's showers will hopefully ease the pressure on the private discom Torrent which took over on April 1," hoped Rajeev Gupta, former president of the National Chamber of Industries and Commerce.