Every one eagerly waits for monsoon which is the rainy season for the Indian subcontinent. My understanding is monsoon is a word derived from Arabic word mawsim meaning weather. The word monsoon was first used in English by the British to describe the rainy season of the Indian sub continent. In India monsoon is called Nairutya Maarut.In India we are very lucky to have four months of rain, winter and summer. In India 70% of the population depends on agriculture which directly depends on the monsoon and contributes 25% to our GDP.A good monsoon means a bumper crop and prosperity.
The history of monsoon starts 50 million years back. This was the time when the Indian subcontinent moving towards Tibetan plateau collided with each other. This collision resulted in formation of the Himalayas which we see today. Even today this is a seismic zone prone to earthquakes and every year the height of Himalaya increases by few inches. The formation of himalays is most significant thing in the advent of the monsoon in India. During summer season the plains of the Indian subcontinent get heated up. This results in a temperature difference between the surrounding sea and the land.
In the plains high temperature results in the air moving up due to reduced density. This creates a low pressure region on land compared to sea. Due to low pressure precipitation from sea moves towards land in form of clouds. These clouds come from south west & south east from Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal respectively. Clouds from south west are blocked by Western Ghats resulting in heavy rains in Kerala, coastal Karnataka and Konkan Goa region.Clouds coming from south east give rains to West Bengal, Orissa and the North eastern states. This rain is received across India during period of June to September.
Traveling across plains of India these clouds are obstructed in the north by Himalayas resulting in heavy rains. Himalayas ensure that the clouds don’t go to China from India. No wonder we worship Himalayas in India. This clouds being obstructed by Himalayas start their return journey towards south. Result is return monsoon in the time frame of October to December. City like Chennai only receive the return monsoon and I was fortunate to have experienced it while I was staying at Chennai. Generally the return monsoon is accompanied by a cyclone hitting the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
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