Monsoon - is it or is it not?

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The Indian Meteorological Department is a very trustworthy source. People turn to their little window at the corner of the Times Of India to know what the Met Department has to say. Will it rain, shine or snow?

In my grandfather's time, the voice of the Met Dep on the radio was a constant source of entertainment. It was said that they forecast things like, "it may or may not rain today". Things are quite different today. If Met Dep announces "rainfall for the next three days", fear not - there will not be a single drop from the sky, nor would there be any sign of a solitary cloud.

A week or ten days ago, monsoon was sighted over parts of Kerala. It lashed the state for a couple of days. Unlike Bangalore, Kerala always maintains an average temperature throughout the year. The fall of mercury during rain is compensated an hour so later and the temp bounces back to 30deg C or thereabouts. Last week, monsoon hit Bangalore. For three days, the important-looking rains with a don't-disturb-we're-busy attitude, accompanied by thunder and lightning, did their expected duty, true to their name.
"Yes, we told you so", said the Met Dep. "Expect a month of torrents."
After the 3rd day, monsoons vanished without a trace.

The beauty of monsoon is when the dark clouds are done with pouring. A glimpse into last year's Monsoon Sky here. The tragedy lies in the power failures every time the wind blows or thunder rolls, the flooded roads, and the blocked drains.

When it rained in March, we called it summer rains. In April, we said those are the remnants of the summer rains, split over by a few weeks. In May, we chose not to name them. Finally in the last week of May, we called them Monsoons.

"Monsoon?" says Met Dep. "Yes it is still around. Just gone visiting."

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