Red Letter Box on Gate

From my childhood days I show interest on red letter boxes that hang from the gates of many houses in my neighbourhood and while coming back from school then, I truly wish to have one such box hung from our own gate. While residing in our native house in Adyar, we shared a common gate with uncle’s workshop so we hadn’t had a chance or truth to be said, we don’t had a necessary to place a letter box since almost our relatives and friends are from within Chennai and easily reachable. The only family that sent us letters/greeting cards was from our great aunt’s who stayed away from city.

Even after shifted to apartment in neighbourhood, we don’t have the chance or need to place a letter box because there was already a common box for every block and the watchman himself will distribute the letters to right home while he comes around. The letter boxes in eye-catching red, with words refer to what it was in white against black cap with a gap inside to drop the letter. I find interesting how post man drops the letter inside, and many boxes I have seen had locks to keep safe the letters from ill beings. A house that was opposite to ours in Adyar had the letterbox placed inside their compound wall with just a gap on wall to leave the letter.

I link this post, with the red letter box hanging along the gate from one of our neighbours, to the Run a Round Ranch’s Good fences. The photos on the letter box was shot from the mobile camera (2 mega pixel), while being out one evening in wheelchair to a nearest park. So pls bear with the quality. I also added a photo from the park, above, where kids play sliding. I find this particular side very colorful and fun sliding down.

A falls near Coonoor

Driving down from Coonoor on the Mettupalaiyam road and at the Kattari Junction I find a small waterfall on the roadside after taking right at the junction towards Kundha. It is one of an important junction that led to the western sides of Nilgiri.

It seems like a small freshwater spring come falls, continue to flow as I read a board there warning not to wash vehicles there. Being midsummer month then water flow has been least.

Vedaranyam – Renowned for salt and struggle

During my visit to Point Calimere (Kodiyakarai) we landed at Vedaranyam for temple visit and to time pass while waiting for the Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary to be open by afternoon to enter. Vedaranyam is a coastal town, about 50 km southeast of Nagapattiman in Tamil Nadu along the Coromandel Coast of Bay of Bengal. The town Vedaranyam derive its name from the temple here called Vedaranyeswarar Temple, with Vedaranyeswarar as presiding deity, is dedicated to Lord Shiva. The 7^th century Saiva canonical work, Tevaram (written by Tamil saint poets known as the Nayanars) mentions this place as Tirumaraikadu, meaning the place where Vedas, the oldest scripture of Hinduism, originated.

Vedaranyeswarar Temple Tower (click photos for enlargement)

Vedaranyam is also a historical town and according to the inscriptions found in Vedaranyeswarar Temple, Vedaranyam has been a part of the Chola Empire under various reigns (from 871-1120 CE) until before it falls during 13^th century CE while under a power struggle between Pandyas and Hoysalas. The Cholas had been profuse throughout their reign granting to the temple, which continued even during the rules of the Nayaks of Thanjavur. The Vedaranyeswarar Temple is a part of the series of temples built by Aditya Chola (871-907 CE) along the banks of river Cauvery to commemorate his victory in the Tirupurambiyam batter. The temple has a five-tiered gateway tower and a central shrine, holding the image of Shiva in the form of lingam.

Salt Pans of Vedaranyam

Being under French and British regime, like many other places in pre-independence era and a part of Nagapattinam region, Vedaranyam is renowned for salt and struggle! Producing around 500,000 tonnes of salt every year, Vedaranyam stands next to Tuticorin in quantum of salt produced in Tamil Nadu. Thanks to the advantage of Great Vedaranyam Swamp with total area of about 349 sq.-km stretching parallel to the Palk Strait and Point Calimere wildlife sanctuary to extreme east; Vedaranyam has five fresh water channels from river Cauvery draining into the swamp, that obtain continuous source of fresh, saline or brackish water during the southwest monsoon and dries up in summer, contributes to salt extraction.

Salt Pans along the way to Point Calimere from Vedaranyam

The swamp is also filled by two periodical high tides that occur during the full moon days of summer. The saltpans spread over 11,000 acres between Vedaranyam and Kodiyakarai has small, medium and large salt manufactures that employ around 20,000 people. Aside salt manufacturing, fishing and salt water prawn cultivation is also primary activities of Vedaranyam. During the British period, salt from Vedaranyam has been transported to Nagapattinam port though a 52 km long canal since road transportation has been limited between these two towns then. Vedaranyam is a place that earned name for supporting Dandi March, one of the prime protest lead my Mahatma Gandhi against sales tax levied on salt extraction.  

Vedaranyam Beach

While Gandhi launched the Dandi March along India’s west coast to protest against the tax imposed by British Raj for salt extraction, his close associate and later India’s first Governor-General C. Rajagopalachari carried out a salt march in parallel, to the event on the east coast starting from Tiruchi to Vedaranyam. His group led by 100 volunteers was arrested by the British for collecting salt directly from the sea on the coast of Vedaranyam on 30 April 1930. There is a Salt Sathyagraga Memorial Stupe on the way to the Vedaranyam beach, built in memory of the salt march that sent Rajaji and others to six months imprisonment. Equivalent to Raameshwaram, taking bath in Vedaranyam beach is also believed to drive away sins! 

Courage is what it takes to stand up....

... and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen. – Winston Churchill

Nephew Barath, during his initial steps or stand up, holding our entrance gate while we reside in apartment. I link this post to Run aRound Ranch’s Good fences.

Foraging Squirrel

Here’s a short video I shot on Indian palm squirrel foraging amid plants at my previous residence in Kottivakkam, Chennai. We had enough open space there to grow plants and naturally the ground was incline to grow grasses, invite squirrels to forage on the scattered weeds. I truly miss the space now, but squirrels are everywhere and I see them often on palm trees here since they belong to the specimen, I couldn't reach them easily like before to shoot. Even while composing this post (5.30pm), I hear squirrel shrilling outside.