Like any other school kid, I used to consider the journey to school during the rainy season quite refreshing on the one hand and unpleasant on the other. Walking through the muddy lanes with a useless umbrella and travelling in a school bus whose windows never shut fully and hence water splashing on everyone's face inside the bus were indeed beautiful experinces. But by the time I reached school, my bag and uniform would be completely drenched with water. The smell of the soil and the leaves are still very vivid in my mind. Our class being almost an underground one with very little provisions for the sunlight to peek through, remained dark throughout the day. This implies that the teachers were forced to switch on all the lights to take class. However, even the electricity was deemed a luxury during the rainy season....generators were meant only for emergency purposes.
In a state like Kerala, scorching heat was nearly 'fiction.' This is a state that receives both South-West and North-East Monsoons. Yet nowadays, places like Wayanad, an agricultural hub, faces severe drought during six months of the year. The suicide rates are rising steadily.
I've just returned from Chennai to my homeland for vacation. The day I landed here, I thought Kerala (Thrissur) was as hot as Chennai. Though pre-monsoon showers have begun, they don't last longer than an hour or two hours. I can't hear the frightening thunder or the sparkling lightning. In fact, for the past few years, Thrissur has been receiving far less rainfall than the normal rainfall. Monsoons have been receding pretty abruptly.
And for a change, monsoons in Kerala have been creating havoc rather than creating life. A modernized, apparently well-planned city like Kochi remains flooded throughout the rainy season. Even a 10-minute heavy rainfall can bring this wannabe metropolitan city to a standstill. This was not the case around 10 years back. Despite the heavy rainfall, no towns used to face any major problem.
Times are changing. Rainfall has also decreased and the systems have also collapsed. Kerala is no longer a "GOD'S OWN COUNTRY.'
Dhanasree Jayaram
dhanasreej@gmail.com
In a state like Kerala, scorching heat was nearly 'fiction.' This is a state that receives both South-West and North-East Monsoons. Yet nowadays, places like Wayanad, an agricultural hub, faces severe drought during six months of the year. The suicide rates are rising steadily.
I've just returned from Chennai to my homeland for vacation. The day I landed here, I thought Kerala (Thrissur) was as hot as Chennai. Though pre-monsoon showers have begun, they don't last longer than an hour or two hours. I can't hear the frightening thunder or the sparkling lightning. In fact, for the past few years, Thrissur has been receiving far less rainfall than the normal rainfall. Monsoons have been receding pretty abruptly.
And for a change, monsoons in Kerala have been creating havoc rather than creating life. A modernized, apparently well-planned city like Kochi remains flooded throughout the rainy season. Even a 10-minute heavy rainfall can bring this wannabe metropolitan city to a standstill. This was not the case around 10 years back. Despite the heavy rainfall, no towns used to face any major problem.
Times are changing. Rainfall has also decreased and the systems have also collapsed. Kerala is no longer a "GOD'S OWN COUNTRY.'
Dhanasree Jayaram
dhanasreej@gmail.com
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