Veedur Dam, near Villupuram

I have crossed the Veedur Dam several times when going beyond Villupuram on the GST road or NH 45 (or NH 138 according to Google maps), and I could only see a piece of the bank of the 4.5km long dam. I mostly took this national highway for long trips, as it is a prime road led to the southern districts of Tamil Nadu, and thus I never had time to stop to look at the dam as we need to cover long distances in travel.

The entrance arch to the dam

I always have an interest in visiting dams and the Veedur dam was also on my list of visits, and I found that the extended monsoon season (post) was apt. to visit. Because the dam receives water only when there is a good monsoon rain, and following last year the dam had reached its full level again, and surplus water was released into the Gingee river.

The Veedur Dam is about 150 km from Chennai on the GST road, and it is located right on the highway between Tindivanam and Villupuram and welcomes by an arch that marks the road leading to the dam and the park. Though the day was sunny, it wasn’t hot (thanks to the winter season and one of the reasons I chose to visit the dam), and the cool breeze was enough to create small waves in the water to crash like the sea.

Since it was Sunday, some people had arrived on bikes and cars, but it was not crowded enough to scare us. There is a road to climb on the dam, though the vehicles are allowed only near the shutter area, it was more than enough for me to get the view of the dam. The water level at the dam was up to the rim, and we could see water spill out of the shutters (when we cross the downstream area) when the wind blows strong.

The Veedur Dam was built-in 1959 during the regime of K. Kamaraj, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and President of the Indian National Congress, at the initiative of Kakkan, who was the Minister of Public Works Department. Kamaraj, also known as Kingmaker, constructed many dams in the state during his regime, and each one of them was a marvel in engineering. And the Veedur dam was the smallest and last dam he constructed before the end of his regime.

The 3 Tainter gates

The dam is built on the merging point of two different rivers, called Sankaraparani and Thondi, at the village of Veedur from where the dam got its name, Veedur Dam. The dam serves as a source of drinking water and agriculture for more than 100 villages, including Vikravandi, Mailam, Vanur, and Pondicherry. During the monsoon, the dam opens for irrigation of about 2,200 acres in Tamil Nadu and 1,000 acres in Pondicherry.

The view of the dam park and car parking 

The total height of the concrete dam is 32 feet, and the earth dam is 37 feet; and among the 4.8 km long earth dam, only 430 feet is a concrete dam. Besides the 9 spillway shutters, there are 3 Tainter gates - a type of radial arm floodgates used in dams and canal locks to control water flow - which is something I find new. The dam has two little parks, one at the entrance of the road, beside the archway, and another close to the dam provides some nice shadows to the visitors and play area for kids.

Driving down to downstream area through the shadowy park area

I got to see the entire dam area and was pleased by the amazing sights of the countryside while continue to travel on the dam road. We will see further in the next post as this turned to be a long post. 

Golden Shower

 

The Indian rain tree opposite our house.

The ripe leaves fall off the tree

In the air, the destination undefined

Yet the infinite wind blow

To keep it ground and far.

 

The falling leaves seems a blessing

On anyone under its tree

Perhaps, because these are mature leaves

Equivalent to be greeted by adults.

 

The leaves depart on a journey undecided,

Gives way to emerging shoots. 

Perhaps, because it is called Indian rain tree

It showers in golden yellow.

Preparing for Bro's Wedding

Brother’s wedding arrangements were going in full swing, and with only two days left for the occasion – of Nov 25^th evening reception and Nov 26^th morning marriage – the invitation process came to an end with Panthakaal on Sunday. Panthakaal is a pre-wedding ritual, where a wooden pole is planted in front of the house (a few days ahead of the wedding) after prayer for a trouble-free wedding ceremony. In the bygone era, word of mouth was the only source of communication; so pole planting ensures the passers-by get to know about the wedding and also the good news is passed to others.

Now, following the Panthakaal, Nalanggu is performed on him for the remaining days to the wedding. Nalanggu is an activity of applying turmeric paste on the cheeks, hands, and feet of the bride and groom by the married women, and as a blessing, saffron is applied to their forehead. Mostly it’s a 3-day ritual, and we are having guests visiting us every day to perform the rite, and my brother is at hold at home from Sunday.  Other than relatives, we invite friends and neighbors to visit us to perform the ritual, and for me, I get something special to eat at home in the evenings and at night as we have guests.

Everything goes well until now, and our house got a cheerful look like the wedding lights that set home in the festival glow. But not to forget, the Nivar cyclone is nearing us and threatening to mess the celebration mood as it is predicted to strike exactly on the dates of the wedding. We have no option other than facing anything that comes our way, but we hope the cyclone passes off quickly before the event began.

The last few weeks were kind of huff and puff for the parents, and presenting the invitation has kept them away from the afternoon naps and our bedtime to past 11 pm. My uncle's family next door has taken care of me while my parents were away on an inviting spree, we still can’t reach out to many of them as we got a very short time, and the pandemic is another troublesome kicking ass as well. Conducting a marriage in a situation of social distancing and mask-wearing is a different experience we’re looking forward to, and hope things work well for us safely and securely.

It Rains

It rains as if never going to rain

A trial of the northeast monsoon

Draw trail as if clearing the way

For heavy rain to run down the drain.

 

The day was brighter and sunny

To ever think of raining

Until silvery clouds float in  

To become gloomy and rain.

 

The pitter-patter of rain

Continue its rhyme, wordlessly  

like a kindergarten kid, I

rejoiced singing along the rain. 

The beautiful sunny day in the morning contrary to rain in the evening.

Linking this post with Skywatch Friday

The Sunlight

It feels good to get warm in the sun

Months after its migration

The shadow over the balcony deviated

To give way to sunlight

Though I miss the cool shadow

I cherished through the summer

My body badly needs some sunlight

To supply with its nutrient

The sunlight becomes mandatory

Igniting some senses to upbeat

As I venture into the sunlight

The illumination of the sun

Is bright enough to light up the living room

While the daylight dims earlier. 

A Weather, Reminder of Mountains

The weather has been pleasant and cools these days (in Chennai) and it wasn’t raining either but still, the clouds, continue to seize the sky, kept low the temperature that lures me to dream of mountains. Though not exactly, I feel a mild cold in the air to embrace me and my mind cling to the memories of the same feel. It’s been more than a year I visited mountains or stayed overnight other than the home esp. this cool weather is impossible to restrain the thoughts of Smokey Haven or what I call a bird paradise – Thandikudi – nestled in the lower Palani hills of Kodaikanal. It was a place that wasn’t too cold as Kodai or hot as plains but comfortable weather to stay all day out exploring the locality of coffee and pepper plantations and listening to birds in woods.

 

Glad my uncle built his wood houses there, so it was always a hassle-free and home-like stay for us and it would be fun if two more families of my uncles join the stay. I too used to the comfort of the woodhouse or to say my uncle had built the house easily accessible by the wheelchair so that I could visit it anytime without difficulty. He knows how I enjoy staying into nature or travel to hills and the woodhouse was first executed for personal use before the idea of renting happen. The weather is one pleasing thing about this place and no matter what the season was, it never drops out of comfort and the weather in Chennai right away is something that makes the mind think about. Perhaps due to Aadi (the season with high wind blow, falls between July-August) is believed to bring a successful year of rain and these cloudy moments brings hope as the southwest monsoon had smashed this year.
 

I leave you with some nature and cool images for the glimpses of the locality from different times of the visit. I love being there any time of the season and it has something to please or offer with the arrival of differences in nature like the migration of birds, flowering environment and wind.  

Linking this post for  Good Fences by Gosia

Summer Sky

The weather is beautiful and sunny in Chennai these days despite the hot summer season, the sky is pretty much in blue.  Sometimes it turns pinkish to orange in evenings and later setting off of sun. The sky and trees in the photos were shot in the afternoon, when the summer sea breeze takes off usually to shoo the hot wind and birds on their tunes.

The mango tree in rusty and green leaves is from the neighbour’s house opposite to us and amazingly the tree has shown up with a single mango this season unlike a lot last year. The tree was pruned at large last November and perhaps that could be the reason for the tree to unable to bear fruits this year except that single mango.

Linking this post with Skywatch Friday

Natural Beehive

Honey Bees have built a natural beehive in the Indian tulip tree opposite our house. Popularly known as Portia tree or Pacific rosewood, a flowering tree from mallow family, continue to bloom throughout the year but shows great blossoms in warm weather should inspired the honey bees to build their hive.

The beehive shot here was from early monsoon in Nov and the beehive disappeared later and I thought the rain and winter cold should have washed away. But again in February the honey bees started to build the hive and its bigger now than what you see in these photos. I couldn’t capture it now as the density of leaves have hid the beehive

Linking this post with SATURDAY CRITTERS

Summer Breeze is Back

The summer breeze is back;
A favourite time of the year
Is here, and it embrace me;
The tender cool invisible wind
Inspires to take a break, to breathe
A refreshing sort of wind
Caressed me to goose bump.
While the sun shines bright
The simple cool sea breeze
Is a pleasure, immeasurable by levels;
Hold back lot in memories
I cherish solely sitting in the living room.
The trees shoot leaves outside
Brought spring in the air
Doubles the delight of summer
That ever leased alone to warm up.

கடத்து காற்றே / Hijack wind

The image captured at Kurangani, near Theni
and it is a highly windy area.

காற்றே, என்னை கடத்தி செல்
உதிரும் இலை போல்
திசை தெரியா என்னை
அழைத்து செல்.
விண்வெளிக்கோ, இல்லை
சவ குழிக்கோ.
சமவெளி கடந்து
பள்ளத்தாக்கில் உருண்டு
மலை முகடுகளை  முகர்ந்து
அருவியில் விழுந்து 
கடத்தி செல்
காற்றே, எல்லை கடந்து.

----------------- --------------------

Wind, hijack me

Like a deciduous leaf

I do not know the direction  

Take me.

Either to space, or

To grave;  

Across plains

Rolling down the valley

Sniffing the mountain ridges

Falling in the waterfall

Hijack, wind

Across the border!

Summer Spy

The sun shines as bright 

As winter shields are removed; 

Bare the sky, fall sunlight 

On anything apparent on earth.

The sun supervises, for 

A perfect timing of spring/summer 

And leaves, being fragile 

Fall prey easily to sun’s radiant.

The sun splashed its colour 

Of yellow, on leaves that were green 

As ripe falls to ground; the earth

Becomes a yellow carpet to walk.

The sun changes its path 

A journey from south to north

Emit great radiant, to dry leaves 

Crushed later underfoot.   

Celebration of Harvest – Pongal Festival

Pongal, the traditional festival of Tamils is left by two days. Tradition is something I always admire and I believe everything has some scientific reasons behind our customs and traditions what in later days turned relevant to faith. Pongal, the harvest festival of south India is a thanksgiving to farmers, cattle’s and nature in support of cultivation, though it is celebrated all over India in different names and custom, the core intention was to stand up for the farmers who the reason for our daily food.

A simple Pongal  kolam or rangoli from the neighborhood, last year.

Mostly, Pongal is a festival celebrated grandly and traditionally in villages and small towns where the farmers and the related sources exist. But in cities I feel we almost lost the touch of real essence of Pongal – the earthen pots, which brings a connection between earth and us and in combination of firewood produce a distinct flavour what any other utensils could promote and the bubbling up of pot with rice is another cheerful part believed to bring auspicious to home and hope to life. And that’s why I try to celebrate Pongal in traditional way each year, even though we couldn’t live up to farmers and villagers dedication I try the best to convince parents to celebrate/cook Pongal in pot and firewood.

I see Pongal brings new spirit to life and by celebrating the festival I feel grateful for the farmers and anything related to farming and food processing. ‘Suriya Pongal’ is another aspect of the festival devoted to prime source Sun (Suriya-n) where the Pongal pot is placed in open area where the sunlight falls, and by boiling the rice from newly harvested crop is a way of thanking its light and energy fuelling in cultivating crops. And ‘Thai Pongal’ is another term refers to Pongal which meant the beginning of Tamil month Thai, according to Tamil calendar, and the month when the harvest begins is believed to bring hope and ways to live with harvested grains.

A earthen pot on firewood stove  getting ready to cook Pongal, from the previous pongal festival a couple of years back.

This year the Pongal extends into the weekend, following Pongal, Maattu Pongal and Kaanum Pongal on 15, 16 and 17 respectively to 18 and 19 as weekend. Though the holidays doesn’t going to do anything with me or change across, but I could end up watching TV programs on special days after try to make firewood Pongal in the balcony, just like the previous year, and others could be the routine. One thing special about this Pongal is I gonna watch the programs and movies in my new big Led TV. Lol

Though Pongal is a piece of cake to us compared to villages and small towns where the celebration is whole, I always try to connect the feel and think back the times at grandparents’ home and visits to villages on Maattu (Bull) Pongal to take part in their celebrations, where cattle’s are decorated and their shelters being cleaned and worshiped and kids taking joy rides in bullock carts, to cherish myself to pick up the energy to go further. I think a festival mood couldn’t be enrich unless added some people to make my belief true that festivals are to be celebrated together with people rather making it a custom to celebrate alone or mark it as holidays only. I always wish to celebrate festivals along with people or at least surrounded by dear ones. I wish people from India a Happy Pongal and Makar Shankranti!

RGB Monday

Festive season sieve
troubles, to make happiness
slid through tiny holes.

P.s. Hope you find the red, green and blue ornaments hung from a live christmas tree grown in the courtyard of my uncle's woodhouse at Thandikudi, near Kodaikanal. I capture the image from my last vacation in July and the ornaments weren't removed from the tree after festive season was over, but I loved seeing them pretty hung through the evergreen tree. Wishing you all Very Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous Pretty New Year, 2020!

In Month of Cold

I switched off the ceiling fan
as wind blows the coolest,
heart yearns for a warm hug
the moment slipped
between noon and evening.

I took pleasure, as sunlight
took a bright step into the home;
the air still filled by cold
sends goose bumps
to places could not define.

The wind is colder
when blows through the alley,
the back door become a cooler
to chill down everything
rather my heartburns sometime.

I feel for a warm embrace
what does my blanket at night,
and from the arms of dad
there is no wonder
December is a month of cold.

Transformation

From time to time things change
the sky isn’t the same I look up every time
the wind blows, never the identical   
the seasons transform the colours of nature
the trees retreat in shoot of new leaves
while skin isn’t silky in dryness of cold -
lacework is something woven in lack of moisture.

Transformation is a continuous process
which is impossible without nature
the head of all significant changes;
the sky the limit of eternity
isn’t same in its pattern or colours
the remarkable sunrises and sunsets
is an inspiring from time to time.

 Life is a constant progress of changes
a change that needs to refresh
like fresh mountain rivers charged
in continuous flow of current;
the mind is something keeps changing
either for good or bad
  ponders make things different.

Ps. The spectacular sunset was capture over the mountains from a trip to western ghats around Theni in Tamil Nadu. 

At the end of the day

I felt chillness in wind
despite the warm sunlight
bestow, whatever under its glow;
the trees swish to wind
blew, the gloomy mood
while sky cleared the clouds
blue-sky isn’t a surprise.  

The sun’s ready to set
splashing its golden rays
to lavish, before it vanish;
the environment is greenish
thanks to eastern waves – MJO
for bringing faraway clouds
to help flourish our environs.

Rains took a break
or almost finished its course
though, the scores aren't fair
competing with other places;
it was refreshingly cool
and I could feel the cold in breeze
since winter isn't far.

RGB Monday

A colourful depiction of traditional south Indian wedding ceremony!

No, this is not from my grandmother’s Golu arrangement but this could take an easy place at any similar arrangement of dolls. This miniature of a marriage ceremony was found at a café’s showcase while stopped for a coffee break during a leisure ride on Kodaikanalghat road. The café bearing the board of popular Kumbakonam degree coffee is located half the way on Kodai road and the café displayed some more craftworks, which I’m unsure it’s for sales, and too sells some hygienic snacks. 

Btw. the weather was very pleasant today, and also become the wettest day of the year with continues drizzle from the dawn and occasional heavy rains temperature had pushed to the least to heaven like feel. Things look pretty refreshing around and trees gleam in greenish green and the rain drops had decorated the balcony rails as rows of LEDs, a feel that often missed lately is back with commence of northeast monsoon.

Destruction of water sources and Madipakkam Lake visit

First time, drive through the Madipakkam, Pallikaranai (marshland) and Sholinganallur-Akkarai (the extended areas of south Chennai) road after 2015 flood and really fed up seeing how things changed around esp. multi-storeyed buildings on the places where some water bodies or marshes existed not long ago. I’m never against development but what kind of development or cost matters and destroying a water body or lake or marshes could never gift anything to society… everyone knows the importance of fresh water and preserving the ground table water could never compete with any other. The December 2015 had greatly flooded the entire areas mentioned above and countless were rescued through boats and uplifted by helicopters, as well food dropped from same and the main reason for submerge of houses up to first floor were because of  the construction on lakes and marshes. I had seen the transformation of these places from marsh grasslands to concrete grounds and had felt sad many a time how the water sources had turned to concrete blocks. It’s apparent that without government approval these are impossible… corruption, improper planning had made an unbalanced development and whatever reason we built in front us to justify, the nature rules out quite.

The Sunday outing had been disappointing seeing the disappearance of water bodies to concrete blocks and building and the only console was to see couple of lakes being dredged and waiting for the freshwater (though i doubt) from the upcoming monsoon. I stopped at the Madipakkam Lake view road for some time, and while having a coffee, I could see people relaxing in benches and taking walks on the paved public walk along the road and the lake. On the other side or east bank of the lake have rows of palms trees, which is a common sighting around the lakes in Tamil Nadu once, as these trees helps preserve ground water near and around lakes even during dry seasons.  The Madipakkam Lake is also dry right now, where kids playing cricket but I wish it was maintained clean.

From there we went past the Pallikaranai marsh and it was another place to put me upset. The weather on Sunday was pleasant, and just coming out of a noon shower (rain),   I enjoyed a super cool ride through rolled down windows. But it wasn’t same nearing the Pallikaranai marsh on Radial road, and we’re forced to close the windows quickly as it smelt very unpleasant. The very reason for the bad smell was, the Chennai dumping yard is located at the heart of marshland and I was shocked to see how speedily the garbage dump is swallowing the shallow marsh that’s home to many species of aquatic, fishes and birds. I have seen flamingos and pelicans in large numbers during migration season (October-May) and I would say, still it’s a best place for bird watch and I could see couple of watch towers but I really wonder how could one watch birds there when even standing for a minute is hazard to health! The Sholinganallur-Akkarai road passes through Buckingham channel is another spot I had seen birds and it’s an open landscape adjoining the channel is another groundwater preserving area sliding into the same pit.

Pallikaranai marshland rapidly filled up by garbage dump, creating a great environmental destructive 

Summer Breeze (2.0)

Curtains took wings by the blowing wind 

    and if not for the hangers to hold eyelets
could escape through the summer breeze
    to enjoy a vacation that I made not in a year.

Shimmering sunlight has nothing to do
   while summer breeze continues to be cool
carried all over the living room, where
   I usually hangout with my lap and books.

The tender breeze holds some magic  
   to bewitch through its ethereal touch
caress like a lassie trying to seduce
   while I continue to windlass from wheels.

Summer Breeze 2019

Summer breeze picked up

earlier to the season
transports me to past, where
some best moments exists.

Breath-taking it feels
every time the sea breeze
take off and land my field
to feels embrace wind.

Sun shone its fine
but still the winter chill
plays a role between
like a string in music.

And I enjoy this view
of palms and other trees
dancing to the tune of
imbalance wind breeze.

The trees lose leaves
like skin shed off layers
to prevailing dry weather
the wind blows to ground.