Reminiscences 04 Poem by Unnikrishnan Sivasankara Menon

The Monsoons

Although my father had another gainful occupation as a teacher, our household was predominantly agrarian.

In agriculture, in those days, everything revolved around 'rains'. And we had abundance of them. Two monsoons irrigated our crops. The South-West Monsoon sets in on June 01 and lasts until September. In Malayalam the South-West Monsoon is called "Kaala Varsham" meaning ‘timely rains'. In my childhood, Kaala Varsham used to start invariably on the First day of June. Schools used to reopen on the 01 June too, and so did the reservoirs of the skies. On the very first day in School, we used to reach fully drenched. But we loved it. First June is half-way through the lunar month Edavam. So, Kaalavarsham is also called Edavappaathi, meaning Mid-Edavam.

The South-East Monsoon comes by the middle of October and lasts for about a month. Middle of October is the beginning of the lunar month Thulaam and the South-East Monsoon is called Thulaa Varsham (the rains of the month Thulaam) in Kerala. The month is called thus, maybe because during this one month, we have the entire climate balanced: frequent showers, decent sunshine, onset of the tropical cold season (you can not call it winter) . Our granaries were full after the harvesting during the previous month. As Kaalavarsham has withdrawn and sunshine becomes reasonable, the days are pleasant and nights cool.

Apart from these two pronounced rainy seasons, we were blessed with occasional showers round the year. Except for a dry patch of about sixty days in February-March-April. Speaking of seasons, I'd point out that we have two Springs as well, that makes Kerala so special.

It is not that all the agricultural activities were timed on the Monsoons. But they had a bearing on our everyday life and activities. I hope to dedicate a few chapters of my reminiscence to our perennial agricultural activities.

Vocabulary
Thulaam is the third month in the Kerala's lunar calendar. Derived from the word ‘Thulaas' which means a weighing balance