One of the words most popularised by Dr S R Ramanan was “Veppasalanam”. “வெப்பசலனம் காரனமாக மழை” is a phrase that owes so much to Dr Ramanan. Tamil is such a beautiful language that understood water cycle very early. “வான்முகந்த நீர் மழை பொழியவும் மழைப் பொழிந்த நீர் கடல் பரப்பவும் மாரி பெய்யும் பருவம் போல் நீரின்றும் நிலத்து ஏற்றவும் நிலத்தினின்று நீர்ப்பரப்பவும் அளந்து அறியாப் பல பண்டம்” – பட்டினப்பாலை. Veppasalanam as a word pretty much sums…
Weak Monsoon keeps mini Summer going over the plains of TN
Adebe Bikila is a name that is possibly not as famous as Jesse Owens if one were to look at Olympic legends of the yesteryears. Bikila was the first Ethiopian Olympic Medalist winning gold in Men’s Marathon at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. During the 1960 Rome Olympics not he broke the world record while…
Plains of Tamil Nadu to see a return of mini Summer
Southwest Monsoon got off to a strong start this season covering almost half of the country before MOK. The monsoon surge was so strong over the past few days even the leeward plains of Tamil Nadu saw rains. Yesterday Chennai and suburbs saw multiple spell of rains from afternoon to late evening. This spell also…
Southwest Monsoon Checks in but bump ahead
Yesterday Southwest Monsoon made onset over Kerala more than a week ahead of schedule. Since 2010 Monsoon has been setting in over Kerala mostly on or after 29th May. During 2009 we saw onset over Kerala happen on 23rd May. 2025 is now the earliest mainland onset since then. 2025 will be the 14th year…
Monsoon onset over Kerala – Things falling in place
Monsoon is a word but Monsoon onset over Kerala (MOK) is an emotion. It is an emotion not just for the weather community but most of India. Despite all the manufacturing advances over the past couple of decades agriculture still remains India’s largest provider of rural employment. Agriculture still contributes to about 16% of the…