IMAGE: A jatropha bud covered in rain droplets.
This beautiful tree is found in many places across India, including Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Palanki Narayana
This beautiful tree is found in many places across India, including Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
Photograph: Kind courtesy Palanki Narayana
Keep your chai and pakoras ready as you test your knowledge of the Indian monsoon, one of the more important monsoon systems in the world, with this special quiz.
Get set, go!
1. Which location receives the highest amount of rainfall annually? No, it is not Cherrapunji.
A. Neriamangalam
B. Agumbe
C. Mawsynram
D. Pasighat
2. Which states and Union Territories receive the north-east monsoon too, from October to December?
A. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
B. Assam, Nagaland, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
C. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Daman and Diu.
D. Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
3. Which part of the country receives the monsoon showers first?
A. Himalayas
B. Northeast India
C. Kerala
D. Lakshadweep
4. Which Indian location has the lowest average annual rainfall?
A. Supaul, Bihar
B. Ruyli, Rajasthan
C. Girgoli, Chhattisgarh
D. Hingoli, Maharastra
5. What is the bursting of monsoon?
A. A drastic degree of precipitation that occurs over a few minutes or so and leads to flooding; as much as 75 mm can be dropped in less than an hour.
B. Bursting of monsoon is about a rapid change in weather in India during the SW monsoon -- usually from hot and dry to wet and humid.
C. A huge slide of mud in a short period of time when a lot of rain falls.
D. When pellets of hail fall during a change in temperature in the monsoon.
6. Vagaries is a word often used to quaintly describe an Indian monsoon. What does it mean?
A. It is a term used commonly in India to characterise the erratic nature of the monsoon.
B. It is a term used commonly in India to characterise the erratic colour of the rain during the monsoon.
C. It is a term used commonly in India to characterise the erratic particles found in the rain during the monsoon.
D. It is a term used commonly in India to characterise the erratic temperature of the rain during the monsoon.
7. What is a normal southwest monsoon for India?
A. 320 cm through the whole season averaged all across India
B. 26 cm through the whole season averaged all across India
C. 110 cm through the whole season averaged all across India
D. 88 cm through the whole season averaged all across India
8. What is a Somali Jet?
A. A Somalian airplane used to seed monsoon clouds.
B. A Somalian aircraft used to monitor the progress of the entire Indian Ocean monsoon.
C. A Somalian military plane, that along with an Indian Air Force jet, does joint exercises to track the currents in the Indian Ocean during the monsoon.
D. A jet of air from Somalia that flows towards India and boosts the southwest monsoon.
9. Who predicts the monsoon in India
A. The IITs
B. RAW
C. IMD
D. CBI
10. Don't eat green leafy vegetables uncooked during the rainy season
A. True
B. False
Feature Production: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
