rains lashes Chennai city ! -

Collectibles dealer Charlie Babbitt is in the middle of importing four grey market Lamborghinis to Los Angeles for resale. He needs to deliver the cars to impatient buyers who have already made down payments in order to repay the loan he took out to buy them, .. .. .. .. 

மழை உலகிற்க்கு மிக அவசியம்.  செந்நாப்போதார் தம் திருக்குறளில் 'வான் சிறப்பு' என ஒரு அதிகாரமே இதற்கு அளித்துள்ளார். தடிந்தெழிலி என்ன ஒரு அற்புதமான சொல்லாடல் !! எழிலி என்றால் மேகம். தடித்து என்பதற்குத் திரளுதல், மின்னல் என இரு பொருட்களையும்  கொள்ளலாம்.   திரண்டெழுந்த மின்னலடிக்கிற மேகம் என்று பொருளாகிறது இந்த சொல்.  “நல்குதல்” எனில் பெருங்கொடை. “தடிந்தெழிலி” யால் தான் கடலில் நீர் கொண்டு சேர்க்கும் பெருங்கொடையாகிய பெருமழையைத் தரமுடியும்.  இங்கே அவர்தம் குறள் ஒன்று :

நெடுங்கடலும் தன்நீர்மை குன்றும் தடிந்தெழிலி

தான்நல்கா தாகி விடின்.

மேகம் கடலிலிருந்து நீரைக் கொண்டு அதனிடத்திலே பெய்யாமல் விடுமானால், பெரிய கடலும் தன் வளம் குன்றிப் போகும்.  பரிமேலழகர் உரை:   மிக பெரிய அளவிட இயலாத அளவு அகன்ற கடலும் தன் இயல்பு குறையும்; எழிலி தான் தடிந்து நல்காது ஆகி விடின் - மேகம் தான் அதனைக் குறைத்து அதன்கண் பெய்யாது விடுமாயின்.  உலகில் உயிரிகளுக்கு, பயிர்களுக்கு, மனிதனுக்கு மட்டுமல்ல - கடலுக்கும் மழை அவசியம். அத்தியாவசியம். 

Earth is truly unique in its abundance of water. Water is necessary to sustaining life on Earth, and helps tie together the Earth's lands, oceans, and atmosphere into an integrated system. Precipitation, evaporation, freezing and melting and condensation are all part of the hydrological cycle - a never-ending global process of water circulation from clouds to land, to the ocean, and back to the clouds. This cycling of water is intimately linked with energy exchanges among the atmosphere, ocean, and land that determine the Earth's climate and cause much of natural climate variability.   "Water is at the heart of both the causes and effects of climate change." 

Rain is liquid water in the form of droplets that have condensed from atmospheric water vapor and then become heavy enough to fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle. A monsoon often brings about thoughts of torrential rains, similar to a hurricane or typhoon. But there is a difference: a monsoon is not a single storm; rather, it is a seasonal wind shift over a region. The shift may cause heavy rains in the summer, but at other times, it may cause a dry spell. 

Most of that is Science -  predicting them too can be scientific.  In recent past, many weather bloggers have mushroomed and many hail them too.  While their success is applauded, whether they are accurate and what is their % of correct prediction – not many care to know.  Today, the month of December almost coming to a close, mid-Margazhi, Chennaites experienced very heavy rain as the deluge marooned them.

 

One of the popular weather bloggers tweeted :   Apologies to everyone for not able to pick up this high intensity rains today. No #Weather models picked. Moderate to heavy spell of #Rains to continue for the next couple of hours at least over #Chennai and surrounding. It's better to stay wherever you are.   

The IMD official report read :  the  channel (0.65µm) lies in the visible region (0.4µm - 0.7µm) of the electromagnetic spectrum which can be seen with naked eye. Hence this channel is known as the Visible channel. The incoming solar radiation in this channel is reflected by Clouds and Ground. The amount of reflection depends on the type of reflective surface. Visible imagery is very useful for distinguishing clouds, land, and sea/ocean.   

Whichever side you look at it – there is another angle – rains lash Mumbai, rains lash Bengaluru, rains lash Delhi – but when it rains heavily in Chennai, life crèeches to a halt.  It rained heavily or rather very heavily in most parts of the city today – this Thursday, mostly from mid-noon leading to heavy waterlogging, traffic snarls, vehicles stopping and transport system in disarray.   As per the rainfall data released by the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), MRC Nagar (Chennai dist) recorded 13 cm of rainfall while Nungambakkam received 12 cm. YMCA Nandanam recorded 8 cm, Meenambakkam 5 cm, and ACS College 5 cm.  Triplicane, aka Marine too might have received more than 10 cms (not backed by any official data!)  

For the next 48 hours, the RMC has predicted light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms in some areas in Chennai and its neighbourhood. The sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy and the maximum and minimum temperature is likely to be around 31°C and 24°C respectively.  In some places, there is no current, people (office-goers) experienced great difficulty in returning home !!  

Rain Man released in 1988 directed by Barry Levinson is a classy film featuring Dustin Hoffman.    It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed virtually all of his multimillion dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant, of whose existence Charlie was unaware. Charlie is left with only his father's beloved vintage car and rosebushes. Rain Man premiered at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear, the festival's highest prize.  It is the  only film to win both Golden Bear and Academy Award for Best Picture. 

With regards – a rain affected Chennaite
S. Sampathkumar
30.12.2021.