A cyclone diary

The Hindu

23-05-2025

When Ria and Rahul heard they were going to Chennai for their vacation, they were surprised. Why Chennai? 'That is because your paati lives there,' said Baba.
'She is always busy,' Rahul said.
'Not any more. She's retired and wants you to visit,' Amma said.
Paati was serious looking and a little scary but, when Amma said that they could go to the beach every day, they agreed. It was their first flight without their parents and they stepped out of the airport feeling like brave adventurers. In the car, they waited for the AC to cool them down. But paati drove with her window down, occasionally putting her head out to scan the sky. The children got hotter and hotter.
'Tell her,' Rahul hissed. But Ria, usually brave, didn't.
'Then I will,' Rahul threatened.
Paati heard and asked, 'What is it?'
'Paati, why are you looking at the sky?' Ria asked before Rahul could complain.
'The meteorological department issued a pre-cyclone watch. So, there might be a cyclone soon,' said paati.
'The weather department?'' Ria giggled. 'If they say it'll rain, it definitely won't.'
'That's not true. They are usually accurate,' Paati said.
The children exchanged looks and said nothing after that. Paati's house was old and it was cool inside. 'This is the house I grew up in,' Paati told them. That explained the ancient furniture, the children thought, the wooden cupboards and narrow high beds. That evening, they went to the beach and had a grand time playing in the sea.
A discovery
It was raining the next day and the children were bored. Looking in the cupboard in her room for something to read, Ria found an old notebook.
'Rahul, it's a diary. Must be Amma's,' she said.
The diary was called My Cyclone Diary and Ria giggled, as she read out, 'The Cyclone No One Wanted. This came out of the blue, on the day of our class picnic. We'll have an Umbrella Picnic now.'
'Umbrella Picnic,' Rahul laughed.
'Younger Amma was funny,' Ria laughed.
Amma had lived through several cyclones and named them all. One was called Deepavali Destroyer, another was Sports Day Spoilsport. Then there was The Cyclone that Came to Stay.
'Why did she hate cyclones?' Rahul wondered.
'They spoilt her plans,' Ria explained. 'Sports Day and a picnic cancelled and imagine… a rainy Deepavali.'
They were laughing about Amma's description of the cyclone she had named The Spitter, when they heard Paati calling. She needed help cooking dinner. They washed and peeled vegetables while, on the television, people discussed Lehar.
'What's Lehar?' Rahul asked.
'The cyclone,' paati said.
'They should have called it Rain Spitter,' Rahul laughed.
'Or Cloud Burster,' Ria added
'The Big Bad Cloud...'
'The Uninvited!'
They were giggling and didn't notice that Paati had stopped chopping to stare at them. 'How did you come up with those names?' she asked.
'From Amma's diary,' Rahul grinned.
A surprise
'Your Amma's diary?' paati asked and Ria felt a squirm of fear. Was paati going to scold them for reading someone's diary? Instead, she said, 'Do you have the diary? I would like to see it.'
When they brought it to her, Paati flipped through it, smiling gently.
'This is my diary,' she told them.
'Your diary?' Rahul squeaked.
'You gave all those names to cyclones?' Ria asked wonderingly.
When Paati nodded, Rahul said, 'What amazing names: Cloud Burster! The Cyclone that Robbed Me!''
'I was an angry child,' paati laughed. 'Every time I made a plan, a cyclone would rain all over it.'
'But why did you stop writing in your cyclone diary?' Ria asked.
'Did you start liking cyclones?' Rahul asked.
'No, I began to study them,' laughed Paati
'Study? From where?' They asked.
'From a book, of course,' Paati said. 'It was written by an Englishman named Henry Piddington. He coined the name cyclone, from the Greek word cyclos. It was after this that I started another diary: My Weather Diary.'
That didn't sound as much fun as a cyclone diary. When Rahul said, 'It sounds like homework', Ria nodded in agreement.
'Hmm,' Paati nodded. 'But writing the diary helped me understand what I wanted to do. That's how I began to work in the meteorological department. Later, my diaries helped me write a few books.'
There were 14 books, all with Paati's name on them. The children couldn't believe it and looked again and again at the author photo. Yes, it was their grandmother.
'When you started working, did you forget your cyclone names?' asked Rahul.
'Of course she did,' Ria said, impatiently.
'Actually, I didn't.' Paati's smile was mischievous.
'You didn't? Really?'
'The first cyclone of my job, I called Spoilsport. The next was Weepy Day, then Snotty Rider...' the children giggled.
'The weather people were shocked. So, they decided to find good names for the cyclones,' smiled Paati.
'Paati, you can name the next cyclone Rahul. It's a good name,' said Rahul, while Ria and Paati burst out laughing.
'I don't name them,' Paati explained. 'Each country suggests names for cyclones. So, when a cyclone hits that country, they pick a name on that list. That's how cyclones are named.'
'Paati, what else can you tell us?'' asked Ria.
'About what?'
'About cyclones.'
'The weather!'
Their Paati, it turned out, could tell them a lot. Through their summer vacation, she did!