The Rain and Flood Seems Unending to Chennaities

Deepavali passed away quietly, literally, due to the less noise of crackers. Buying and bursting of crackers have come down this year, and there are reasons for that, which was the loss of interest and laziness, and beyond that, the court restrictions and weather, Diwali demanded fewer crackers. I think the Deepavali post can wait sometimes - I'm working on a short video on fireworks - and before that, the rain takes away the charm even before the festive weekend conclude. 

There was rain often around the city for the last few months has filled the reservoirs with enough water, and the saturated earth stopped quenching water has resulted in a flood following the Sunday rain. It was moderate to heavy rain begin from the night of Saturday to Sunday evening has left Chennai city flooded. It was a  heavy downpour recorded in a short period of 12 to 15 hours, reminding the citizens of the 2015 historical flood. 

I woke up in the morning to see our street (pic above and below) turned into a river! Since we live on the main road, the water from every other street (in our area) has to flow through our street and the stormwater drain. The rainwater kept flowing fully throughout the day till night since the stormwater drain was insufficient for the abundant water. 

The Sunday rain measured at 13-24 cm in less than 24 hours. Thankfully, the rain took some break later that night despite the red alert from the Meteorological department; there was some moderate to light rain yesterday and today.  Due to the formation of low pressure in the Bay of Bengal,  the rains will continue over the next week.  

Even before the northeast monsoon began a week ago, it rained sufficiently all over the state, and this monsoon rain will only be a bonus that cannot enjoy, rather people suffer and the water to the sea. The rainwater flooded my neighbor's house and garden opposite to us. If you remember, it was the same neighbor who reworked his garden damaged in last year's Nivar cyclone, who faced a similar situation on Sunday. Though he worked swiftly in pulling out the water, the prediction of rain going be distress to him. 

First time I hear the loud noise of frogs after shifting here. Frogs croak wasn't new to me, and I have listened to their chorus siren plenty in our former apartment with an open plot in front of the house. Now I think I miss many a thing related to rain after moving out from there, but that high-pitched croak reminded me a lot, and I'm glad at the same time we have moved to the first floor, which is pretty safe (during this time) than staying at the ground. 

Let's see what nature held for us, and whatever wish people have the ability to face the crises.

Time to Light - Deepavali

The thought of just a day left for Deepavali brings excitement within. Though the weather wasn't that favorable to celebrate Deepavali - the festival of lights and fireworks - as it kept raining for the last few days and a warning from meteorology that there could be rains across the day of Deepavali. The covid has its share already in defusing the light of Deepavali; the supreme court's guidance has gripped the firework sale, but at masses, these don't matter when purchasing things and celebrating the festival. 

I love rain, and it must keep away drought, but never during the festivals, especially Deepavali. 

I hung rice led serial in our living room for Deepavali 

I see a general feeling of excitement of Deepavali is missing among the people; perhaps their lifestyle changes and influence of gadgets has kept their interest away from the festivals and celebrations. I have fond memories of Deepavali, the most anticipated days of our life - from childhood till now - an inexplicable feeling embraces. Since I grow up lighting fireworks, it has become an inseparable thing during Deepavali, and every year, I buy some fireworks as I enjoy the same. 

During childhood days, we begin celebrating Deepavali a month early to the festival. We buy crackers loosely from the nearby petty shop and burst one by one during the weekends. I recollect how joyful the days are then - with our neighborhood friends, we go for cracker hunting on the day of Deepavali, picking up the unburst crackers on the road to burst. Roaming the street is my favorite pass time, then, and it's fun as we keep talking and walking around the streets in our area.

I miss so many things right away, and when I think back, I feel the pleasure and pain equally. Not only that I miss those days, but I also couldn't make up with the contemporary world, even for the smallest desires and right to be human. Though I buy a variety of fireworks, what I could light was only a sparkler. My world is little with endless vision and works to do, but being a dependent, I could not achieve anything without aid from anyone. 

Hope you all have a Happy and Safe Deepavali! 

Indian Golden Jackal and Its Relevant!

Foxes and Jackals have become an endangered species in our  Indian subcontinent, and I remember seeing a Jackal (in wilder) only once in the Kodiakkarai scrub forest, aka Point Calimere.  I have been to many wild forests, but nowhere I could see a Fox or Jackal. It seems the foxes have almost lost their habitation, and who could be responsible for that other than us, the human beings? 

Man hunted foxes/jackals for their skin and flesh - believing to have medical values is used in traditional medicine is one of the reasons for the foxes to disappear from the forest. And those who hunt foxes are called Narikuravar (fox tribe) in southern India, and they sell things made of fox body parts, esp. they make necklaces with fox tooth hanging.

But they stopped hunting fox/jackals after the Indian Wildlife Conservation Act (1972 as amended to 2005) forbids the hunting of all wildlife; they were prohibited entry into the forests; thus took alternatives such as selling beaded ornaments to survive. But beyond that, habitat loss is the main reason for the fox/jackal to become endangered.  The conversion of grassland habitat to agriculture, industry, and increasingly bio-fuel plantations have drastically affected its population.

There is an attitude of comparing fox/jackal trickery and ingenuity with people among us, who are very sharp, specific, and self-centered. There's a famous story of The Fox and Crow told in various versions (and ours was "granny's vada"); to praise the trickiness of fox, but the moral of the story was to never deceive anyone cunningly for our benefit and don't believe everyone's word.

There is also a superstition in India that waking up on a fox face or hearing a jackal howl means good things will happen. And there are much folklore, mythology, and literature relevant to the jackal's cunningness and religious beliefs.  So whatever it is, preserving a dying species is everyone's duty, and those living around the forest need to be more responsible, emphasizing the same.

The golden jackal I shared here was shot at Amirthi Zoological Park, near Vellore. The Park has a nice set of dens, that too a colorful one - paintings of trees resembling the walls of the kindergarten - covered by a partial dome-like cage. When we visited, a lone jackal was roaming outside the dens - there are two separate dens, what I guess was there must be at least a pair of jackals -  right now, only one is available.

The Golden Jackal, believed to be a social animal that lives either as pairs or packs like wolves, is native to Southeast Europe to Southeast Asia. Comparatively, a small size wolf, "the jackal possesses shorter legs and a shorter tail, a more elongated torso, a less-prominent forehead, and a narrower and more pointed muzzle. The golden jackal's coat can vary in color from a pale creamy yellow in summer to a dark tawny beige in winter."

"The genetic studies indicate the golden jackal expanded from India around 20,000 years ago, towards the end of the last ice age. Golden jackals' habitat in valleys and beside rivers and their tributaries, canals, lakes, and seashores feed on foods ranging from fruit and insects to small ungulates."  (courtesy wiki)

Signs: MGM & VGP

MGM Dizzee World

The VGP Universal Kingdom, aka Golden Beach

You guessed right; these are the signboards of the most visited amusement parks in Chennai. And these theme parks are located on the scenic ECR (east coast road), and among the two, VGP is the oldest amusement park come beach resort popularly called VGP Golden Beach. 

It's been ages since I visited these parks. I have no desire or ability to take rides inside the park but would love to see the VGB Universal Kingdom and the New Marine Kingdom to enjoy the underwater world and fisheries.  I have crossed these places many a time but still couldn't stop for a visit.

Linking up with Tom's signs2

Nephew Jeshwanth and the New Arrival

My nephew Jeshwanth is almost six months now - by November 3rd, he completes the same. His activities have enhanced now, and he flips, frequently lies on his stomach, and tries to crawl at a snail pace. And it is funny to see him move forward by lifting his butt up and down. 

Jeshwanth from sister-in-law's baby shower last month.

He approaches and tries to grab things with his tiny hands and tries to feel us by touching our faces. He's quick with his gesture, and at a glance, it looks like he is hitting us, but the next second he shows tenderness and smiles that are so innocent to sense. He tries to mimic the words or sounds we emit (by twisting his mouth) though only air exits his mouth the way he observes us amazes. 

He screams when his happiness rose, and giggles when we make funny and silly sounds. And he's quiet other than those and uses wakeful eyes when watching television. But we never encourage that habit when he comes to our home, but his eyes go over it due to colors, and his favorite is the bright yellow of Chennai Super Kings (IPL cricket Team). My father used to watch IPL, and whenever he sat on his lap with a match at the same time, join him to watch colors. 

I added a short video below on  Jashwanth giggling and flipping. 

To add joy to the same track - to add another boy to the family, my sister-in-law delivered a baby boy (today). The family goes through an overwhelming joy, and on the other hand, we anticipated normal labor but had to go through cesarean since the baby turned overweight. The baby and the mother are doing well. And they are expected to be discharged in a day or two. The baby and the mother would go to their maternal home directly from the hospital to stay there for a few months before coming to our home, so we had to wait sometime to see the baby.