Lush views of Kallidaikurichi from my village home terrace
The last time I wrote about my village, I mentioned the paddy sowing season through a rustic photo series. That was the beginning of the South West monsoon and the rains had just started to fill the dams. This meant that the dams could be opened and their water could be channelled via the irrigation canals for all agricultural work downstream.
Since then, we have had a good monsoon season, good agricultural activity and hence the landscape has completely changed. You can see different shades of green all around you.
This is the lush view of Kallidaikurichi village from my home terrace. You can see the gorgeously green paddy fields, the Kannadigan canal flowing till its brim and an overall lush green atmosphere. This abundant greenery, ample water sources and good rains has ensured that there is a lot of flora and fauna activity.
You can hear more birds chirping almost every morning and evening. You can see the birds busy building their nests. And you can also see them don their mating colours and perform the mating dance. A common occurrence during this time is the mating dance of the peacocks. And you can hear and see these mating dances almost every day. Luckily for me, I can see this stunning mating dance right from my terrace. Either the peacock dances on my terrace or at my neighbour’s terrace. Either way, you can see it at close quarters and record the action through your phone camera.
The above video recorded through my phone camera is a practice mating dance of the peacock. I call it a practice mating dance because there were no pea hens in the vicinity and usually peacocks hone their mating dance so that they can put on their best performance when the peahens are nearby. These mating dances are usually accompanied by calls that are different from the peacock’s regular call. Some sound like a loud horn and the others sound like a series of horns that the peacock makes while bobbing its head and neck up and down.
This is also the time to see all weeds and plants flowering as there is bright sunshine almost every day. This attracts colourful butterflies, bees and dragon flies. All in all, the onset of the south west monsoon changes the entire behaviour of mother nature at the village of Kallidaikurichi in rural Tamil Nadu. This is my small slice of heaven in rustic India.
