Seattle Rain

Wonder of wonders... It actually rained today in Seattle (and it is as I write this). And what surprised and behooved me to write this blog post after a year is that today, I actually welcomed this rain. Sipping my cuppa of steaming filter coffee, watching the rain fall in sheets, and listening to thunder rumbling overhead, I felt transported back home to where the monsoons are in (almost) full force. To complement this scene, playing some old Hindi tracks made me nostalgic about my childhood in Bombay, where it rains continuously for a month during this time of the year. I still recall my dad and I wearing full length raincoats and stepping out early in the morning to catch our respective buses, my dad for work, and yours truly for the kindergarten bus. The best part of this was that in spite of the full raincoats, one would still get drenched going to school and while coming back. But life would go on despite the rain. It was heartening to watch thousands of commuters catching their 7.24 to VT or Churchgate and the trains driving through driving rain to get to their destinations. Rain was almost part of life, it was a benevolent force that made people happy, and brought stunning greenery in the Ghats, and desolation in beaches which were favoured only by seagulls and lovers. And what a coincidence, my computer, while randomly playing old songs, chose to play Pyaar hua ikraar hua from Shree 420, a song picturing a couple in the same monsoon rain in what was then 1950s Bombay. Looks like even my PC can think :-)

Two scenes stand vividly in my mind as though I saw them yesterday: the furious crashing waves of the Arabian Sea on the rocky coastline of Marine Drive in Bombay, and really hard rain in Besant Nagar beach in Madras - events separated by approximately 15 years. The first was when I was 5 years old, seen from the safety of a bus running along Marine Drive. The second was seen from my bicycle, having cycled 8 kilometres in heavy rain with a friend, just to see the sea and enjoy hot crispy bajjis and tea on the beach. Two different experiences in two different cities, but the same rain.

Now for the third experience, where am I sitting and watching the rain fall down from the comfort of my apartment, in a different continent altogether, but the same summer rain, nevertheless.

Though I prefer the sun to rain, somehow the sun does not evoke any such memories or nostalgia... Now, why is that?

Water falls everywhere but not a drop to drink!

Whew! Another episode of the Cauvery issue came to an end (hopefully). This issue seems to have lasted longer than the longest TV show (or mega serials, as they are known in India).

I thought I should wade in and add a few thoughts and attempt to put things in perspective.

First, there is no prima facie case for Karnataka to rake up any issue. This was why the (interim) Karnataka government did not start or get involved in this episode. It also helped that this interim government is not run by politicians, but by bureaucrats under the President's authority. Hogenakkal water supply scheme was settled bilaterally between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu way back in 1998. The following articles enable one to ascertain some facts.

Editorial: A dose of practicality

The 1998 story of Hogenakkal

As mentioned in these articles, the water is for drinking purposes only and will be drawn from Tamil Nadu's share of the water downstream from the state border near Hogenakkal. The quantum of water to be realized by Tamil Nadu at the Mettur reservoir, stipulated by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, will be reduced by the water utilized by the Hogenakkal scheme. This means that Karnataka will not be affected in any way by this scheme.

A long pending election is approaching and the parties need some issue. What better than Cauvery? After much uncertainty and law and order problems on both sides of the state border, a temporary solution was announced by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, putting this project on hold till the conclusion of the state elections in Karnataka. Also, former Karnakata Chief Minister S.M. Krishna quickly endorsed the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's statement since there was no point beating a dead carcass.

However, the deplorable thing here was the behaviour, albeit of a narrow section of the political fringe, indulging in bus burning and destruction of property, providing periods of intense worry to all. People should not get carried away by the utterances of some political leader in search of issues. I hope more sense prevails next time (and there will be a next time, coinciding with the next election!).

P.S.: Hogenakkal is known for its beautiful water falls, where the Cauvery crosses the border into Tamil Nadu. However, the surrounding Dharmapuri district is parched and this scheme was intended to supply water there.