Rains, Bengaluru Test, Birds and .. .. மகராணி உன் வரவை !! ராப் பகலா எம் மனசு தேடுதடி..

Not many would have seen – Prashant / Subashri starrer ‘Enga Thambi’ released in 1993 directed by Sabapathy Dekshinamurthy.   The film was dubbed in Telugu as Allari Prema.  Yet every Ilayaraja fan would have heard this song for sure !! 

Rains have relented ! – no way closer to what it was hyped to be !! – Weather bloggers failed miserably.  Today there was not much of rains and one could get even Sunshine too ! 

Nearer in Andhra, Meteorological Department, Andhra Pradesh Disaster Management Authority said in their release :  “Heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in several places in the South Coast and Rayalaseema, with extremely heavy rainfall likely in some areas. Along the coast, wind speeds of 40-60 km/h are expected” 

The South Western Railway on Wednesday (October 16, 2024) cancelled some trains due to waterlogging over tracks following heavy rains. “The decision was taken due to waterlogging in the up-fast line over Bridge No. 114 between Basin Bridge Junction (Chennai) and Veysarpadi stations,” an SWR official said.  

New Zealand have now gone six consecutive days of Test cricket in India without any actual cricket. After the Afghanistan misadventure in Greater Noida,  where the test was abandoned without a ball being bowled – the   first day of the first Test in Bengaluru remained a non-starter as the rainy week continued. Bengaluru did wake up to optimistic news as the expected apocalyptic rain had skirted the city. However, a drizzle of varying intensity - sometimes so fine that it wouldn't result in an interruption if play was already on - continued until a big shower at 2.30pm put paid to all hopes of a toss on day one. Now that this will start as a Test of four days or fewer, a team wanting to enforce a follow-on will need to lead by 150 and not 200.  

It had rained very heavily in Bengaluru and  M Chinnaswamy Stadium had taken copious water, yet taken   the sub-air drainage system at the ground that can drain a claimed 10000 litres of water per minute gave more than a glimmer of hope. However, there was another obstacle in the course: because of the rain a day before the match, the Hawk-Eye formatting couldn't be done. This process, too, takes an hour and a half. However, it didn't come down to that as the rain at 2.30pm was heavy. The authorities will hope this formatting can be done before the second day, which by the way is forecast to be impacted by rain again. Play will start 15 minutes early on the remaining four days and end 15 minutes late so that 98 overs can be bowled every day. An extra half an hour can be added to make up for slow over-rates.  

Rain inconveniences too – especially birds – we see  birds perched and hunkered down than flying around. Not sure whether their wings are waterproof – though they can withstand rains briefly.    However, when their feathers get wet the pockets of air can fill up with water and a bird’s temperature can drop rapidly putting it at risk of hypothermia.  

Can birds fly in the rain? They can—but not very well. While it’s not impossible for birds to fly in the rain, they usually choose not to. You may see birds fly short distances in poor weather to find something to eat, but most of them prefer to stay put.  While every bird wears one feather coat, different kinds of feathers – and even different parts of the same feather – can perform various functions. The outermost tips of the main body feathers, called the contour feathers, are built so that the feather surface forms a fine, breathable but water-resistant mesh. This water-repellent property allows the downy bases of the same contour feathers, and other completely downy feathers, to stay dry underneath, allowing them to trap warm air.

 

Here is a Koel (Cuckoo / Kuyil) getting drenched in rains.  The species' binomial name is derived from the Latin cuculus (the cuckoo) and canorus (melodious; from canere, meaning to sing). The cuckoo family gets its common name and genus name by onomatopoeia for the call of the male common cuckoo.  

How far does the cuckoo fly?  -  A bird named Onon completed one of the longest migrations (over 12,000 km) ever recorded by any land bird from southern Africa to Mongolia.  The cuckoo bird  created a stunning record by flying more than 12,000 km (7,500 miles) and crossing 16 countries to migrate from southern Africa to its “native” place in Mongolia. The bird fitted with satellite tag in June 2019 “landed” at the Church Bird Banding Station in Mongolia at 3.22pm local time on May 27, 2020. According to bird conservation organisation Birding Beijing that had been monitoring long distance migration of the bird along with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Wildlife Science and Conservation Center of Mongolia, the bird named Onon was one of the five birds fitted with satellite tags as part of the Mongolia Cockoo Project. According to the scientists Onon was the only bird that had completed a round trip from Mongolia to its winter home in Zambia and back flying over mammoth 26,000 km in the journey. 

Before completing here is the song sung by Mano & Minimini set to the melodious music of Isaignani Ilayaraja from the movie ‘Enga Thambi’

 

மலையோரம் மாங்குருவி!  மாவிலையில் பாட்டெழுதி பாடுதடி...

மகராணி உன் வரவை !! ராப் பகலா எம் மனசு தேடுதடி..

மண மேளம் காதில் கேட்குதா?  மனசோடு தேனை வார்க்குதா?

 

With regards – S Sampathkumar
16.10.2024