There had been water in the river for the last two years. Everyone was very happy with this but there was a problem. Weeds had crowded most of the river. Usually for three to four months the river used to go dry. The weeds used to dry up.

The villagers decided to do something about this. There were three bridges over the river within the village limit. So cleaning had to be done within this area. The PWD officials were told and they dutifully shut down the sluices in the Kadamba tank.

Water level dropped, but there was still two feet water. To drain that would take too long. So Tractors were driven into the riverbed. Two tractors between the three bridges. The tractors could not pass under the bridges as there were too many pillars.

For three hours the tractors kept going up and down the river. The villagers were satisfied that most of the weeds had been uprooted by the giant tractor wheels. The tractors came out.

A call to the PWD and water started flowing again. The weeds which had been freshly uprooted got stuck between the pillars under the main bridge near the village bus stop. More weeds got entangled here and blocked the water completely.

The water overflowed the banks and entered the village. The villagers got excited because this had never happened. They ran for their lives. Then they decided to sit in dharna on the road. In a little while two buses and a few small vehicles were stranded on either side of this impromptu road blockade.

Some one phoned the police station. The police arrived and decided that this was a civil problem and called the Tahsildhar. The Tahsildhar came and made them get up from the road. He then phoned the PWD who shut the sluice again. Water stopped overflowing.

The he asked a few youngsters to get into the river and pull out the weeds from under the bridge. This was a tedious task but they did it to please the Tahsildhar. Water started flowing. People went back home.

The wife was complaining that the dog was stinking. With the help of the shopkeeper I managed to catch it and tie it up with a rope. It came unwillingly with me to the river. It went to sleep on the bank. I had to pull it hard to get it into the river. I was irritated as this was not the first time that I had brought it to the river.

I gave it a good bath. At the end I decided to give it a good ducking to clean its head and ears. Suddenly the road went limp. The dog sank. Shocked I pulled it out immediately. Murugan who was bathing at that time declared ‘You killed the dog’.

I ignored him and started untying the rope around the dog’s neck. Praying fervently I started massaging his stomach. I pressed hard and water came out of his mouth. He gave a snort and started breathing. Murugan volunteered ‘Why don’t you give it artificial respiration?’ I gave him a dirty look and carried on with my massage. I thanked all the Gods as he lifted his head slowly.

He licked my hand. I felt very bad. I would definitely not lick the hand that almost drowned me five minutes back.

I finished my bath and went home. The dog could not walk so he stayed behind. Murugan promised to keep an eye on him. I told the wife what happened and told her that next time she should bathe the dog under the house tap.

She told me not to worry and assured me that he would come home when he was hungry. An hour later he did come charging in straight to the kitchen.

I needed money and decided to withdraw money from my ATM. It’s a ten minutes walk to the bus stop. I took a bus to the bazaar. There I boarded another bus to Thiruchendur that is 18 kms from my village.

In Thiruchendur I had to walk 20 minutes to reach the State Bank of India ATM which is near the famous Murugan temple there. I took out cash and came back home. The whole exercise took me two and a half hours.