El-nino demon and Homecoming

Its been quite protracted detachment from native this time for nearly 4-5 months. There were umpteen reasons which kept my native distant. Finally, I had to mandatorily visit to attend our annual ceremony gathering which is led by our family. At least this was a genuine reason to visit the native house and bask in nature's beauty. A short respite from incessant blare of traffic. While the El-nino demon has almost muted activity over Arabian sea, there was still some strays left which are transporting moisture to coastal land.

This year's focal point remains to be deficit monsoon and unprecedented weather. El Niño burst our bubble of expectations for a normal monsoon. Here is a snapshot taken at the end of September 2026 from the official IMD website. There is a whopping 1,000 mm difference across the length and breadth of coastal Karnataka. Mangaluru city is being measured for the first time, so there is no historical record against which to measure the deviation. But for sure, the deficit is likely to be in the same range. I strongly opine that the overall annual figure may even fail to touch the magical 3,000 mm mark.

Perhaps its end of disappointing monsoon season as well with whopping 1000mm deficit. Unfortunately, we may not see further rains streaming from west anymore this year.  The end of September officially marks the end of the South-West Monsoon period, even though the wind pattern doesn't change. The deficit of 1000mm can be only be filled with couple of extreme rains which is practically impossible. The North-East monsoon hardly brings 200mm rains in coast and historically there are no instances of NE monsoon bringing extreme rains except during Cyclone formations drifting from east to west. Cyclone Fenjal was one such example where some of coastal regions experienced 200mm+ rains in December. Again, thats a one in millennium phenomenon.

A system in bay has triggered short period of rainfall in our region. Fortunately, this overlapped with my visit. I could witness rains for couple of days. It was joyful to watch and be part of the concluding rains. There was expectation of extreme rains but later withdrawn. Red alert was toned down to yellow alert due to system moving in unfavourable direction. The first day of landing was full of rains.  It rained after a long gap of 3 weeks and people were joyous. Here is short video of first monsoon glimpse and perhaps last glimpse. The season ended with our region in the red zone (-30%).

The other side of story is that El-nino gripping the region is real. The canals are not roaring, the sun is blistering, the green cover is partially withered, the wells have evaporated significant water already.

The streams, which would normally be muddy, are now clear due to the lack of a strong gush.

The highland  paddy harvest has already turned yellow which people are afraid would never resurrect. Its such waste of money and resource. Nowadays, agriculture is second source of income which means nobody in our region are solely dependent on farming. Another painful aspect is that the oscillating weather is frequently triggering viral infections, which implies most penny goes into doctor appointments.

I couldn't spend much time outdoors on the second day, but managed few cloud shots.

I extended the native stay for one more day due to pending chores. The rain was completely gone and sun was smiling over green landscape. The temperature had dipped but not humidity. It was still pleasant to have noon walk. Here are the extended pictures from extended stay.

Morning walk was fleeting but invigorating. Here are some glimpses.

Lowlands have paddy seeds at nascent stage. Hope they sustain till they mature

My own shadow over the paddy field seemed like a scarecrow, an age-old technique used to veer birds away. As generations evolve, birds have become more intelligent, easily distinguishing between living and non-living things.

Hummock of weeds caught my attention

No sign of clouds gazing at the west. Absolutely disastrous monsoon season.

The extended and patient walk was during mid day. Despite high humidity, the Sun was manageable and pleasant. Lets start with vital part of our living, the paddy fields. These are low lying areas and hence contain sufficient standing water as of now. Not all paddy fields are thriving. Harvests in highlands have already withered and would never be back to life even if monsoon takes momentum from now onwards.

Amidst the fields, I heard unusual splashing sounds, which turned out to be a peacock strutting through the water.  No picture since bird flew away swiftly on spotting me :-).

This shed amidst field is where I lost chappals during childhood days walking through floods. Now we have better commute paths to school. There is no need to stroll through difficult terrains or wobbling through field paths.

This well acts as backup when monsoon takes long break. Under any circumstances, the stored water is just workaround. The plants also know that they thrive only when water pours from heavens.

One such phenomenon in millennium is sufficient for farming community to loose confidence and abandon fields. Beleaguered by labour shortages, rising costs, stagnant prices due to intermediaries, and vagaries of weather, can prompt them to shun farming. Fortunately, most of them depend agriculture as second source of income

If there is no timely rain, the paddy turns yellow and eventually drying up. The subsequent revival of rain post this cannot revive the plants anymore. That's why paddy needs definitive rain pattern unless you depend on canals or not dependent on rains.

We used to climb the rock hill which was mostly slippery during monsoon season. Nothing felt difficult those days. Floods were normal, it never felt battle. Nowadays we detest even 10 mins of rain. In hindsight,  it feels like tough commute. Crossing running brooks and raging canals over narrow, slippery stone footbridges used to be normal during our school days.

Green cover everywhere. The rendezvous of green vegetation, blue skies with interspersed clouds is true magical moment.

When you have pristine setup, you don't need any edit. This Shankapushpa (Butterfly pea) was not edited at all. It came beautiful with straight out of camera. Only edit done was cropping

Evening walk was towards our uncle' shop. Uncle recently passed away. His memories haunt when I visit the shop. The visit turned melancholic. Amidst the pile of groceries, I could feel a void.

On way back, I snapped few canals passing beside the fields. They act as natural water source of cultivation. With rains tapering off, not sure how long the flow will sustain owing to blistering sunlight.

Last goodbye before boarding the bus. Got to see a Malabar pied hornbill sheltering in this large tree. They were flying across the forests and fields. The tree is surrounded by sprawling paddy fields, which essentially satisfies its food needs. This picture is quite special. This pair has chosen our village as habitat and I have been observing them since 6 years. The circled speck at top right corner in this picture is one of them flying to other part of forest.

Time heals is an ancient adage but doesn't fit current era. Either we need to take corrective actions or move on. Cut a forest or tree. Time healing can be constructive or destructive. Nature either can create intense weather via extreme heat or extreme rains to recover itself. So come out of delusion that time heals everything.

I only wish the land of my country flourish every year yielding golden food.

"मेरे देश की धरती सोना उगले , उगले हीरे मोती
मेरे देश की धरती"

Rainbows are colourful only when there is rain

Before I get started, sorry that is not scientific title but kind of figurative. The underlying essence of the title is something else. It means colours of rainbow are joyful to watch only if it rains in your region and not somewhere distant. Before expanding the blog I wanted to reveal the purpose of title. So lets proceed from here.

Its been a week full of thunderstorm activity in South Interior Karnataka including Bengaluru. As mentioned in my previous post, there hasn't been much rain in our region. The weather has maintained status-quo even today. Despite the clouds brimming 360 degrees, the void still lies above us. Today I witnessed rainbow from our apartment terrace but did not feel joyful. I hope you have clarity of my title now.

The distant rainbow formed by distant rain may be beautiful, yet fail to evoke visceral joy. Its been raining North & South but not straight up here.

The view from far above the apartment was exquisite. I climbed the ladders to reach the overhead tank platform to capture the glimpses.

The panoramic view revealed clouds stretching across 360 degrees.

A short burst of rain-shaft expanded its area after short while. Even though the scene was worth capturing the heaviness of rain, the mind couldn't satisfied due to absconding rains overhead.

The dark horizon through the east. Perhaps its drenching there too looks like!

The crest of the cloud tower shone in the setting sun—one of the most beautiful moments of the thunderstorm season. Only heavy clouds can conjure such a breathtaking view.

The evening sun with nimbus clouds matching a chimp?

Just to thaw my rant, it rained lightly at night not even significant to wet the area beneath trees. That just seemed to be nothing more than an eyewash