I shamelessly copied this by Sharell Cook because she says it all so well and saves me loads of typing......win win.
All You Need to Know About
India’s Epic Monsoon Season
BY SHARELL COOK
Updated 06/15/19
Catherine Song / © TripSavvy 2018
The
main monsoon season in India runs
from June to September and the question on everyone’s lips is always, “What's
it really like and is travel still possible?” This is very understandable as
the thought of rain and floods is enough to put a dampener on any holiday.
However, the good news is that you don’t have to let the monsoon ruin your
travel plans, and travel can even be advantageous during this time.
Here's all
you need to know about India during the monsoon, as well as where to travel to
avoid the rain.
What Causes
the Monsoon in India
The monsoon
is caused by differing temperature trends over the land and ocean. In India,
the southwest summer monsoon is attracted by a low pressure area that's caused
by the extreme heat of the Thar Desert and adjoining areas, during summer.
During the monsoon, the wind direction reverses. Moisture-laden winds from the
Indian Ocean come to fill up the void, but because they can't pass through the
Himalaya region, they're forced to rise. The gain in altitude of the clouds
results in a drop in temperature, bringing about rain.
When the
southwest monsoon reaches India, it splits into two parts around the
mountainous region of the Western Ghats in south-central India. One part moves
northwards over the Arabian Sea and up the coastal side of the Western Ghats. The
other flows over the Bay of Bengal, up through Assam, and hits the Eastern
Himalaya range.
What can be
Expected During the Monsoon in India
The
southwest monsoon reaches the coast of the southern state of Kerala around June
1. It usually arrives in Mumbai approximately
10 days later, reaches Delhi by the end of
June, and covers the rest of India by mid-July. Every year, the date of the
monsoon's arrival is the subject of much speculation. Despite numerous
predictions by the meteorological department, it's rare that anyone gets it
right though!
·
Want to chase the monsoon in India? Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu,
on the southernmost tip of India, receives the first rainfall. Stay in a hotel
facing the ocean and watch the storm roll in. Nearby Kovalam, in Kerala, is
also an excellent place to experience the monsoon's energetic arrival. See
these 10 Best Kovalam Hotels for All
Budgets.
The monsoon
doesn't appear all at once. Rather, it builds up over a couple of days of
"pre-monsoon showers". Its actual arrival is announced by an intense
period of heavy rain, booming thunder and plenty of lightening. This rain
injects an amazing amount of vigor into people, and it's common to see children
running about, dancing in the rain, and playing games. Even the adults join in
because it's so refreshing.
After the
first initial downpour, which can last for days, the monsoon falls into a
steady pattern of raining for at least a couple of hours most days. It can be
sunny one minute and pouring the next. The rain is very unpredictable. Some
days very little rainfall will occur, and during this time the temperature will
start heating up again and humidity levels will rise. The amount of rain that's
received peaks in most areas during July, and starts tapering off a bit in
August. While less rain is usually received overall in September, the rain that
does come can often be torrential.
Unfortunately,
many cities become flooded at the start of the monsoon and during heavy
downpours. This is due to drains being unable to cope with the volume of water,
often because of trash that has built up over the summer and hasn't been
properly cleared.
Where
Receives the Most Rain in India During the Monsoon
It’s
important to note that some regions receive more rain than others during the
monsoon. Out of India's major cities, Mumbai receives the most rain, followed
by Kolkata (Calcutta).
The eastern
Himalaya region, around Darjeeling and Shillong (the capital of Meghalaya), is
one of the wettest areas in not just India, but the whole world, during the
monsoon. This is because the monsoon picks up additional moisture from the Bay
of Bengal as it heads towards the Himalayan range. Travel to this region should
definitely be avoided during monsoon time, unless you really love the rain! If
you do, then Cherrapunji in Meghalaya is the place for you (it has the honor of
getting the highest rainfall in the world).
Where
Receives the Least Rain in India During the Monsoon
As far as
major cities are concerned, Delhi, Bangalore and Hyderabad receive
comparatively less rain. Chennai doesn't
receive much rain at all during the southwest monsoon, as Tamil Nadu gets most
of its rainfall from the northeast monsoon, from October to December. Kerala,
Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh also experience this monsoon, as well as heavy
rainfall during the southwest monsoon.
Areas that
receive the least rain and are most suited to travel during the monsoon include
the desert state of Rajasthan, the Deccan Plateau on the eastern side of the
Western Ghats mountain range, and Ladakh in far north
India.
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| Nothing stops school here |
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| We get proper pot holes here! |
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| This is a road, where it crosses a seasonal river. This is why we have the jeep |
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| Festivals and dancing greet the rain after the long hot summer |
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| Bikers here love the rain, great time to tour. Me, i prefer to wait for the dry but cool winter. |
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| Kids love it |
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| The world goes green in a matter of days. Plant growth rate is amazing. |
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| Home, Udaipur |
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| Seasonal waterfalls allover where ever there is a good sized drop |
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| So its raining....so what we are still going out. |
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| The rain makes life hard for some. |
Well a
flavour of what it is like here in monsoon is that it’s not as cold as you
would think. Travelling in the monsoon is very pleasant, no more high
temperatures of summer, but still warm enough to go out in t-shirts, when it
rains the rain is warmer than the UK, it can be cold but nothing like the
shivers you would have if you were caught in a British downpour. People
including us go out and dance in the rain when it arrives it is such a welcome
relief from the heat. Although there are downsides, you can’t see the pot holes
in the roads and they get bigger as monsoon washes away the road surface. It is
difficult to remain comfortably dry as the humidity remains high, and washing
and drying ones clothes is difficult unless your rich and have a washer dryer
or tumble dryer which the majority of us don’t have. Which means hanging wet
clothes throughout the house in the hope they will dry soon, but because it
creates more humidity it can still feel damp after several days. It can be
quite unpleasant getting into a newly made bed and it still feeling damp. Then there are the ants who run for cover in
the monsoon rain, which usually means inside the house, you just have to be
vigilant.
Moti our
friendly street dog comes inside to stay out of the rain and usually camps out
in our living room in the corner where he can still keep an eye on things.
Often he is drenched by the time he comes in so we towel him down and give him
blankets to lie on. Bleu’ quite likes the rain now but Chilly is still
reluctant to go out in the pouring rain often checking if its dryer at the back
of the house to the front.
Another
problem of monsoon is we get water coming in under the doors and around poorly
sealed windows where we have to put cloths down to stop the water running down
the stairs.
Our drive
does flood as it has got marble covering which does not allow the rain to soak
in, this is common in our colony. The road outside does flood but within a
short time of it stopping raining it goes. The grass and plants recover in the
monsoon and within days of the rain everything starts turning green again. Our
chickens have cover for the rain but they still like to be out in it.
Would I
swap the monsoon for the rain in England the answer definitely No. But you do
have to be aware of the risk of landslides especially when travelling outside
the city. For those sleeping rough or in the slum areas monsoon is a really
awful time and causes many health problems. If you have a wound even a scratch
it takes much longer to heal because of the humidity.
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| Huge flooding occurs, flash floods are common. |
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| When its really heavy all you can do is wait for it to ease. |
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| Despite everything this is still a beautiful time of the year. We cannot express the joy of running out into the first rains and dancing like crazy people.
Its not all good news however.
As of 10 June, around 44% of the country was affected by various degrees of drought, due to a heatwave that has seen Delhi record its highest ever June temperature of 48℃. While south of the capital, the Rajasthan city of Churu saw highs of more than 50℃, making it one of the hottest places on Earth.
Around 600 million people are dealing with high-to-extreme water shortages, according to a 2018 report by NITI Aayog, a policy think tank for the Indian government.
This highlights one of our major problems here, rain and storms, floods, raging rivers all lead to the assumption that there is now plenty of water. This is very far from true. The underground aquifers from which water is pumped are falling lower and lower each year as rainfall collection reduces and use increases.
Some cities are now having to tanker in water. Villages have been abandoned as the wells dry up,crops either cannot be planted or die from lack of water.
Millions of litres of water just go to waste as run off from paved areas ends up in rivers, not soaked up by the underground permeable rock.
Famine is coming to India again, it is almost inevitable. The real tragedy is it could be prevented by tighter controls on water use and charging for overuse.
As of now water is free to most of the population, a right like the air I am told. Please we have to charge for water, nothing else will make it worth anything, nobody seems to care. As I write this there is a guy watering his lawn!! Pumping from his well a limited resource because he values his grass more than the water he uses. Maybe its because the attitude here is ' fate determines everything' if the well is fated to go dry it will.
Some well known NGO's such as PEDO (Peoples education and development organisation) have been trying for years to improve the water catchment and retention. They are doing a great job reforesting, building dams and water conservation. But by themselves they cannot save all India. The government must act soon to stop this upcoming disaster.
Is India 'fated' to starve again and again until something radical is done to save the monsoon rains and reduce waste. How many more must die first?
Geeta
Update on
Geeta
It has been
an exciting month with Geeta, mid-month her mother Dloo returned to her village
to sow the corn, and build fences, she will come back for a visit in about a
month and rings several times a week to speak to Geeta.
Dloo was
concerned it may be too much for Chris and I to look after Geeta but we are up
for the challenge. Mind you it does mean no more lying in bed in the mornings.
At present we have a small mattress in our room where Geeta sleeps as she has
never slept alone before and normally sleeps with the light on. Well problem
one solved no light on overnight and Geeta is coping wonderfully, we plan to
get her back into her own room but sleeping alone. Dloo thought Geeta would cry
when she left and be difficult to manage but we have had no tears and only a
little defiance as she pushes the boundaries.
There is nothing wrong with her
appetite and she is eating like a horse, she continues to have a varied diet
full of protein and nutrition. She still eats bananas but it’s not her
favourite fruit anymore she is mad on mangoes and jamun (a plum like fruit
about the size and look of black grapes. Well luckily for us we have two jamun
trees in our garden producing many kilos of fruit. Our mango tree is also
fruiting now. She has discovered Chris’s Mexican chilli which again she loves
all except the tomatoes and capsicum which she carefully places on the side of
her plate, I couldn’t believe yesterday she had three helpings more than me and
Chris.
     1Kg of plum jam 
Chilli, made with lamb but otherwise authentic. It was very yummy!
She is growing tall and growing out of her clothes fast which whilst
expensive means she is now flourishing and growing normally which is what we
have been praying for. When we think how tiny and frail she was when she came
to us, she couldn’t stand and was being carried everywhere I am amazed. It is
now hard to keep up with her she is so full of energy and life and is like a
little whirlwind.
She is bright and intelligent with
a lovely caring nature but she definitely has that mischievous side which I am
sure Chris encourages as do I. She will be starting school in a month it has
been delayed slightly as her new teacher has just had major surgery and is now
recovering.
Geeta’s last visit to the hospital
went well, Her dressing was removed again and it showed that the graft had taken
although it still looked scabby but there was definite new skin growth. Both
the doctor who did the dressings and her consultant were very pleased and said
I could remove the dressing in about a week or so. Well she had the dressing
removed after a week but it looked a little vulnerable so it was lightly
redressed for a further few days. Now she has the dressing removed completely
through the day and a light dressing applied overnight to prevent her
scratching at it in her sleep. The consultant was happy for me to continue
looking after the wound and she is due to return in October when they will
decide about further surgery.
The next step, October hopefully
her first operation to release the contractures in her arm and wrist. At this
point we do not know if she will need just one operation or many more, this
will be determined after the first surgery. We are hopeful she will get some
movement back although we doubt that the small finger may ever work again. She
does have movement in her thumb and other fingers although this is restricted
by the swelling in her hand. When she came to us in September she had no
movement in any of her digits, she had major shoulder restriction and pain and
kept that arm close to her body to protect it.
Now she has full shoulder
movements, moving her thumb and fingers and is gaining strength in the arm as
she is using it more to help her carry things or play fight with Chris and I
using her bad arm to her advantage, and boy does she have strength in that hand
and arm, often she traps my arm or hand between her hand, arm and body and I
can’t release my hand despite trying very hard. Yes I know I’m a woman but she
does the same to Chris.
Some people do not understand that
we do not lie to Geeta regarding her arm and treatment, if it will hurt we tell
her and she copes better for knowing what is happening. We both believe it is
her arm and she has a right to see and know what is happening to her. That is
why she trusts me to touch her arm where she won’t let others near it, I have
never lied to her I always say if it’s going to hurt but that I will be as
gentle as can be. And yes she understands everything I tell her about her arm.
Well we have one little girl living
with us now and we are full time carers, guardians etc. It was for us an easy
decision as we believe God is in control, but we are under no illusions that
there will be difficult times ahead. Having Chris’s sister Amba living nearby
and coming most days also gives Geeta security and continuity.
We need to be careful what we say
and do as she copies us especially me. Chris and I were talking the other day
and he was teasing me making me frustrated so I went into the kitchen and said
to Amba “Ughh men and shook my head” within seconds Geeta ran outside to tell
Beha (Chris) what I said and did, definitely no secrets. She is also speaking
more English in a Durham accent with my intonations and mannerisms so I had
better be on my best behaviour. For instance she said Oy when we were out and I
wondered where she got it from until I heard myself say it the following day
oops. She has got my favourite word “Why” down to a t and says Why to everyone.
Geeta is disappointed at the moment
that she can’t ride in the sidecar as Chris is making a few changes to it as we
speak. She will get another ride soon.
I won’t take her on my scooter
without a helmet, but she thoroughly enjoys going shopping with me either by
taxi or rickshaw.
Rain dance by Geeta
  
Geeta's cousins Lolita and Prem
   Its a case of get it into the Sun and hope the rain holds off. There is no point in trying indoors as the humidity is too high.
Snake in the woodpile!
   
Local snake catchers at work, despite a good search no snake was found. Presumably
it moved on to a quieter place.
Ho hum, lots of wood to re stack
Well that's all for now from Chris and Kris in Udaipur
hope you enjoy this months blog
God Bless and hope everyone is well
Chris and Kris, Geeta, the dogs and the chickens
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