I guess the monsoon is as unlikely a topic as anything else to write your first post on. However, being interested with climatic phenomena, I was quite intrigued that the monsoon has "arrived" in thiruvananthapuram, a week ahead of schedule!
In a country where punctuality is found only on resumes, barracks and school handbooks, a weather system originating in the other half of the globe, and influenced by atleast half-a-dozen capricious phenomena, is expected to maintain a rather rigorous schedule - I've had quite a few bombay-ites proudly proclaim to me that every 10th of June, the clouds would gather on the horizon, a cool wind would drive out the heat, and then it would rain - pour until "ganpati bappa moriya" time in September!
Growing up in Chennai, I was more used to the question "whether it would rain?" than "when?" and watching the Total Rainfall column in The Hindu paper, rise steadily for Bombay, Mangalore, Kottayam, Kochi and other west-coast cities through June-July-august, irked me endlessly! "What we lose out on the south-west monsoon, we more than make up in the north-east monsoon. Plus we have the cyclones..", was my unwavering response to friends asking me about Chennai's water woes! But deep within, I always knew we were wronged - deeply wronged by the south-west monsoon that decided chennai would not be a stop on its annual sojourn from kerala to kashmir! Ofcourse, the cyclones orchestrate magnificent light and sound shows, quite unmatched elsewhere in the country - but that is the Chennai-ite in me, trying yet again to score a point!
Cyclone time is November - if this blog(ger) is still around, cyclones will find their place on these pages.
4 comments:
In a country where punctuality is found only on resumes, barracks and school handbooks,
-See who talks abt punctuality
:-).. Well a nice entry ... I have also had a similar experience, always yearning for that South west Monsoon rains. I have had those moments of popped out eye balls searching for the total rainfall(data) in mms in places like Agumbe, Kottayam where rain gods always bestowed their bounties....
-Shyam
Good entry da.
I forsee a good rainfall in TN this time as a few noble souls have taken over Tamil Nadu Govt????
This is not to trigger a debate, like the one the ISBian had with IIMian.
Sriram V.
Having lived a bigger part of my life so far in the rain bearing region of Western Ghats, the south west monsoon is a harbinger of yet another boring season ahead with not much cricket to be played.The sight of a nimbus approaching often makes think of those lucky ones in chennai and other places who get a chance to peep into the mysterious world and have a ball too(ofcourse to bowl others out). The brighter side of it is ofcourse the green flora which is so obviously evident, the absence of the neauseating sweat and above all hot tea with pakodas, papads etc..
as you have rightly said chennaites yearn for such unfailing rainfalls to quench their evergrowing thirst. But how different it is here back in mumbai. as i write a cool breeze blows over me, just to remind that she(monsoon)is just around the corner to envelop me in her fold....
aravi.
Monsoon are wonderful aspect of nature. The prediction of monsoon is a big scientific problem which is still unsolved. Everyyear scientist predict the monsoon, then at end of the year, having got their prediction wrong, goes back to drawing board to add more parameters to their prediction.
Hope the below average prediction of monsoon this year will also fail. I was in trivandrum in 2002 and eagerly waitin for SW monsoon then, unlucky for me, that yr monsoon was very bad and i had seen scanty rainfall. But never got ditched by NE monsoon, i love this season with full of cyclones...
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