Here is the first installment of “RV Matters” for the new academic year. From this year, I would be travelling a bit and am not sure how regularly I can write this column. I do hope others at school will chip in when needed.
We all have been waiting for rains and that seems to be the major topic of discussion in the valley. I had been on campus more or less through the vacation and it has been a rather hot summer with temperatures steadily hovering in the neighborhood of 40 degrees C. There have been a couple showers late in May and early June but otherwise it has been totally dry. The Hundri-Neeva canal too dried up the day after the elections! The weather forecasts, too, have not been promising.
On our first bird-watching trip last Sunday (16th June), there was a sighting of the Pied Cuckoo, now also known as Jacobin Cuckoo. These birds have been here on campus at least since June 1st. They have been regularly calling, especially at nights, from the Duranta Hills. Pied Cuckoos are known to be summer migrants to this part of the country and their arrival coincides with the onset of the southwest monsoon. So there is some hope that the birds will attract some rains to our parched campus. Let us wait patiently. Birds and other creatures can be better at predicting weather than our educated weathermen!
Dr Santharam