Mangaluru: In an era of weather apps and instant forecasts, K Uday Kumar’s monsoon mornings begin the old-fashioned way. The 70-year-old Hidingala resident near Ujire steps out with a rain gauge, measures the rainfall over the previous 24 hours, and records the figure in a notebook. He has followed the same routine since 1997, building a handwritten rainfall archive that now spans nearly three decades.Kumar took up the exercise after noticing coffee estates in Chikkamagaluru maintain detailed rainfall records. Wanting to know exactly how much rain his village receives, he began compiling monthly and annual figures that today allow comparisons across years.“I wanted to know for myself how much rain we actually receive. People say there is a lot of rain this year or less, but nobody remembers the exact figures. I wanted to have that information with me,” he said.Using a rain gauge with a funnel and measuring cup based on a British-era system, Kumar collects rainwater in an open space and measures rainfall over a 24-hour period, usually from one morning to the next. He records the daily rainfall and adds it to the cumulative total.His notebooks contain separate columns for daily rainfall, monthly totals and cumulative figures. With four to five years of monthly data on each set of pages, the records allow him to compare rainfall patterns across years.The exercise takes only a few minutes. Measuring rainfall takes barely a minute or two, while checking monthly additions and cumulative totals takes around five minutes.“It is purely for my personal information,” Kumar said.Kumar, an accountant who worked in Mumbai for nearly 12 years before returning to Ujire around 1992, said his professional background helped him maintain the records systematically. His wife and children also know how to measure and record rainfall when he is away.The rain gauge is placed on bricks in an open area, away from roofs and other structures that could affect the readings. Kumar also follows weather radar and other weather updates to track the possibility of rain and thunderstorms in his locality.Yet his handwritten rainfall diary remains a record of the rain that actually reaches his doorstep.Rainfall often becomes a topic of conversation when friends from Mumbai and elsewhere call him. Kumar shares the latest figures from Hidingala and compares rainfall with previous years.“I started this in 1997, when I was around 40. As long as I can continue, I will keep doing it. There is no profit or loss in it. It is simply something I want to know,” he said.
