தண்ணீர் தண்ணீர்!

On my way to work today morning, the skies opened up and it was pouring heavily. While I was walking in the rain with an umbrella, my backpack worn like a front-pack over my 3 feet luggage that is my belly, to get across to the place where I would get the share auto I was reminded of something. I was reminded of a similar thunderstorm that occurred almost the same time last year. A Ship had hit the shores towards the Besant Nagar beach and then drifted towards Marina beach near the Light house due to the cyclone "Nilam"

The ship that hit shores, as seen from the marina beach

Me and my friend had went there to catch a glimpse of the Ship on an early Sunday morning. We got the glimpse of the ship and carefully navigated away through the pieces of shit left over by the locals, like mines in that of a minesweeper game. I've always heard that Pattinampakkam aka Foreshore Estate had a beach. I wanted to visit that place, something other than the usual Marina, Bessy and RTO beaches.

 I sat behind my friend's Scooty and we rode to Pattinampakkam beach or so they call it. The beach was hardly 20 steps. We saw a sight which would probably remain engraved in our brain for the rest of our fucking life. Two old men facing ass first towards us and taking a shit in the ocean, early morning. I said to myself "இந்த மயிர்துக்கு பொங்கல் சாப்டுட்டு வீட்லயே தூங்கிர்கலாம்"

To soak in the disappointment we went back to the Marina. The overnight rain had mirrored a miniature river that shimmied into the ocean. Few children were playing in the water and a man who i think was a Journalist was taking photographs of them. 

The kids playing in the guzzling freshwater

One kid ran to him and said "என்ன ஒரு போட்டா எடு" The guy smiled and took a picture of the kid but the kid kept on insisting to take more and more pictures and kept asking "இது எப்போ சன் டிவில வரும்? ". The guy finally got fed up and walked off to the ire of the kid who yelled "ஓட்ட Cameraவ எடுத்துட்டு ஓடு" After all, kids can also be unreasonable narcissistic piece of shit assholes, can they?

The miniature river joins the ocean

The whole place was blooming with life. Thick grass had grown on the banks of miniature river. One guy slyly threw what seemed like an Old monk bottle in the water and a kid picked it up and was filling it up with water. Soon a group of kids ran into claim the bottle their own for their own share of playtime. Doesn't it sound familiar? I mean the dumping in the river and the water quarrels between states. Ha! Miniature in more ways than one.

Grasses growing on the banks of the miniature river

One has to realise how such a meagre amount fresh water had brought so much life into what would otherwise be a barren land filled with miles and miles of sand on all sides except one. It is one of the reasons why I get excited when I see fresh water at the city or any other place for that matter, for it has the capability to spring life in some of the harshest of conditions.

I once came across this post on Facebook by Director Ram. It totally summed up my feelings. Here is an extract from his post.

"நேற்று நண்பன் அஜயன்பாலா திருமண வரவேற்பிற்குச்சென்று வந்தேன். மகிழ்ச்சியான மாலை. மனுசன் ரொம்ப அரிசி தின்னிருப்பார் போல. பலத்த மழை, இடிகள் வெடித்த மழை. அடிக்கடி இல்லை என்றாலும் எப்பவாவது பெய்யத்தான் செய்கிறது இந்த மழை.இத்தனை முறை பெய்தும் இந்த மழைக்குத்தெரியவில்லை பழைய குளங்கள் இப்போது இல்லை என்று. சந்துகளில் பொந்துகளில் அலைந்து கொண்டிருக்கிறது கைவிடப்பட்டச் செறுப்புகளை சுமந்த வாறு.யார் போய்ச் சொல்வது அதனிடம் குளங்கள் இனிமேல் சென்னையில் இல்லை என்று"

For a moment my eyes became moist. All I would like to say is அந்த ஆள் கைய்யுல சரஸ்வதி குடியிருக்கா. 

P.S The English translation of the post is this 

"Yesterday I went to my friend Ajayanbala's reception. It was a very happy evening. I think the would have eaten a lot of raw rice. Heavy rains with thunder burst yesterday. Even though not often, it still does rain heavily once in a while. Even though it had rained so many times, this rain doesn't know there are no ponds anymore. It roams in the street's nooks and corners carrying the footwear that have been left behind. Who will go and tell to it that there are no ponds in Chennai, anymore"

Credits

Photos were taken by the friend who accompanied me, Venkatesh Ravichandran aka Machi who had earlier made an appearance in this post. Do read.