After my Masters at a college in Tiruchirappalli, I decided that I will never go back to Tamil Nadu again. Why I wanted to come out of Tamil Nadu? Even though I did not have some serious reasons for that, I think there must be some factors that insist me to run away from Tamil Nadu. The people are good. They are in general not selfish at all. They are ready to help and share. The food at the PG New Hostel mess of Jamal Mohamed College was excellent, even though we did not appreciate that earlier due to sudden change of food culture. Then why I wanted not to come back to Tamil Nadu again? Main issue may be related to the climate. Tamil Nadu's climate is not pleasant. In summer, it is too hot that I felt always that my brain will become a dry cashew nut in few minutes. In rainy days, all the shit lying in the dry lands get life and it will be smelling foul through out the season. In winter, the climate it very dry. The surroundings will never give you any pleasure since the land is dry and gloomy and there are very few trees around.
After my Masters course, I was forced to go to Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. There things were a bit different; winter was somewhat better than that in Tiruchi and summer was not so bitter since there were lots of trees in and around. But during rainy season, all the back colored wastes flowing in the drainage tunnels would come out. After six months in Chennai, left Tamil Nadu thinking that I will never come back again. But Tamil Nadu was calling me again and again back. I got admission for higher studies in the Department of Theoretical Physics of the University of Madras. The campus was greenish and it was near a conserved forest: the Guindy national park. Lots of bucks and monkeys roamed around the campus. Summer did not came into the soil there because of the green location. I was happy there.
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| The Village and Our Observatory During a Rainy Day |
At the University of Madras, I decided that that would be my last year in Tamil Nadu and I will never comeback here again. But again things went against my wishes. I got my PhD admission in Tirunelveli in the southern Tamil Nadu. The most severe climate was awaiting me there. The hottest place I have ever gone. The laboratory was some fifteen kilometers away from the city. It was a remote village. I was never been in such a remote village. In rainy times the village was excellent, but unfortunately there was no rain most of the days. One month in a year was supposed to give some rain. In that one month, only a few days were really rainy. Surrounding places had a bit more rain but this village did not have. I thought that I can never come out of Tamil Nadu. I slowly drove out my ambitions to go out of Tamil Nadu. I was slowly getting ready to accept the truth. I made up my mind to be in Tirunelveli for next five years.
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| Behind our VHF ground: Tirunelveli |
The nearest tea shop was three kilo meters away, a town called Seydunganallur had almost everything needed in our day to day life. Daily I walked to Seydunganallur in the evenings for a cup of tea and some snacks and to purchase some fruits. I got acquaintance with a few villagers. The town had a Police station, a railway station, few temples, two masjids and several churches here and there. Last month the town got a new ATM and a bank: the Karur Vysya Bank. It was a peaceful village. People called our institute by the name 'Aaraychi Mayyam' meaning 'research centre'.
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| Radar ground at Tirunelveli |
Slowly I came to know that a strange story was spread among the surrounding villagers. They believed the story was true too. The story was devised around our institute. There was numerous instruments deployed in the campus. Different varieties of radars, magnetic observatories, weather stations and other laboratories were there. The radar grounds contained several antennas erected up. People believed that these high antennas are preventing rain to come down! Once, while having tea in a shop, an old villager told me angrily that our antennas are stopping rain from falling down! I told him antennas do not do that.
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| Cricket At The VHF Ground |
Last month was my last month in my Aaraychi Mayyam. I got a transfer to the institute head quarters at Mumbai at a time when I was living in a peaceful village harmoniously. Life was quiet there, even though the hot burning climate irritated me. Last few years was full of oscillations in my life. From a big city in the northern Tamil Nadu (Chennai) to a very remote village in southern Tamil Nadu (Vittalapuram near Krishnapuram) and again back to another huge city(Mumbai). From crowd to an empty deserted land and again back to the midst of a crowd. Now I understand how beautiful my life is!
