The month of Shravan has started, but in Goa it has been raining quite heavily. My neighbour was explaining how the belief in 'nakshatras' influenced the weather and "with this heavy rain,it could continue till Aug 15 or 20". That was his view...
A *Nakshatra* ( Sanskrit <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_language>: nakshatra, 'star', from Sanskrit<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_language>: naksha, 'approach', and Sanskrit<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanskrit_language>: tra, 'guard') is one of the 27 sectors of the ecliptic in the lunar mansion<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_mansion>system of Hindu astrology <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_astrology>. The names are related to the most prominent star <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star> or asterism <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism_%28astronomy%29> in the respective sectors. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra#cite_note-ks-0> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakshatra Of course we both agreed that the "modern" met observatory at Altinho, Panjim mostly gets it wrong! He also pointed out how the older generation actually "understood" the different patterns of rain -- from the heavy to the light, passing shows to monsoon-set-in type of weather. Wonder if someone academic could study these sciences of the past, or whether there is something already dealing with the field in Goa? FN PS: The holy month of Shravan is when many Hindus go off fish. One jokingly told me: "Now fish will be cheap for you." -- FN +91-832-2409490 or +91-9822122436 [email protected] Saligao Goa IN http://fn.goa-india.org Skype: fredericknoronha
