ChinmayC Blog

This year the South West Monsoon seemed to be obsessively focused on covering the whole   of India as fast as possible, and in in fact, after arriving dot on time and reaching the state of Maharashtra on 11 th June, 2020 the monsoon started its journey covering region after region and finally arriving in North India 12 days earlier—thus successfully covering the full country in record time. Now, the point is about doing what it’s supposed to do, that is to say, providing the much-needed rains for the cultivation season all around. It had rained in the first days in Maharashtra in good measure helping the farming community, but later it relaxed and lapsed into a mode of fits and starts. As we pointed out in our last piece the monsoon has been kind enough to provide just one good shower to Mumbai and adjacent areas so far . The Met department noted this and made a forecast that the relaxed monsoon would be active again from 28 th of June. However, this has not happened so far causi...

Once upon a time there were two brothers in a village. The elder brother was of the gentle and peaceful type while the younger one was openly villainous, foul and quarrelsome. After their respective marriages, the petty quarrels became serious, and so they decided to separate—building their own houses dividing the same plot of land. On the border between them was a longish pond and the elder brother’s household did not even catch a fish coming out of that pond to their area on a rainy day as it was not their property. Occasionally on some issues the younger brother used to storm into the elder’s house—threatening him with a dagger at times. Although the boycott was total for decades the new generations of both households used to meet often defying the ban; some of them were close friends; a few of them went to different cities on jobs and there, members of both families used to enjoy togetherness freely. The point being made here is that a boycott plan does not even work at the micros...

The South West Monsoon arrived dot on time in Kerala on 1st June, 2020 and hit Maharashtra on 11th June--late by only a day. In the next two days the Monsoon covered all of Maharashtra including the COVID-tormented city of Mumbai. While there have been heavy rains in all parts of the state Mumbai and its suburbs have not felt the presence of the Monsoon yet--rains so far only scattered and inconsistent, unable to lessen the discomfort of the people as humidity was increasing all the time. Recently cyclone Nisarga headed for Mumbai side-tracked the city at the last minute and roared into interior Maharashtra just before the Alibaug town on the coast. That was perhaps a sort of a divine intervention sparing the city reeling under COVID spread from another disaster. In the last two days thunderstorms as per weather forecast for Mumbai and Thane didn't materialize at all. However, we would rather not expect the same treatment to be meted out to the city in regard to the Monsoon too.  T...

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been having brainstorming virtual sessions with all stakeholders on resumption of cricket in the past months under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. Till now the Council has not been able to take a final call on the main issue of contention: when to hold the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. It's very ironical that in a year which can also be termed as T20 the T20 mega event just cannot get underway that was originally scheduled in October, 2020 in Australia. Now, the Indian cricket board, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been eagerly waiting for the decision on the T20 World Cup, because since its postponment is almost final the ICC decision will give the BCCI a window during October-November to organize its favorite money-spinner, the Indian Premiere League (IPL), of course, without the noisy reveling crowds.  All the while the ICC has been busy framing new rules for the most popular game of the world, a craze in India. ...