India, June 19 -- After staying stationary for around three weeks, the Southwest monsoon finally started advancing beyond the peninsular and north-eastern regions on June 16. This long pause is one reason why the monsoon was almost on schedule for eastern Bihar and northern Maharashtra although it arrived on the Kerala coast eight days before schedule. What explains the long pause and the progress thereafter? The short and technical answer is that cyclonic circulations that developed on both coasts this week have strengthened the monsoon winds and driven away the dry air from the west. Here is how that happened explained in a simpler way.

Monsoon is commonly understood as the season of rainfall. Even by that definition - which is correct...