Thinking in Pictures

It is the name of the book written by Dr. Temple Grandin, a gifted animal scientist who said to have designed one third of the livestock handling facilities in US. She also lectures widely on Autism (Autism is a neurological disorder that the child is born with) because she herself is Autistic.  

“Words are like a second language to me. I translate both spoken and written words into full-color movies, complete with sound, which run like a VCR tape in my head. When somebody speaks to me, his words are instantly translated into pictures” she wrote in her book.

That is her inborn capability, but some people can create pictures in others mind through their writing.

V. Nagam Aiya was one of such people. He was entrusted the responsibility of the preparation of the first Gazetteer of Travancore, namely, "The Travancore State Manual" in 1904 by the then Maharaja of Travancore. He completed the work in three volumes and published it in 1906.  

Just go through the below passage in the said manual, about the Periyar river; especially in the time of ‘Mulla-pariyar issue’  

“The Periyar is the finest, the largest and the most important of the rivers of Travancore. It takes its rise in the Shivagiri forests. As it first emerges from the dense forest the volmne of water it contains is 30 yards wide and 2 feet deep even in the driest weather. After a coarse of 10 miles northward it is joined by the Mullayar at an elevation of 2,800 feet. The Periyar then turns due west and con- tinues so for about 10 miles over sandy bed. About seven miles below Mullayar Tavalam there is formed a sort of gorge by the hills rising to a considerable height on either side of the river and approaching each other very closely. It is here that a dam is thrown by the Madras Government to a height of 160 feet and a width of 1,200 feet to form a lake which greatly helps the irrigation of the land in the Vaigai valley.

 By the construction of the dam the river is caused to back up for a considerable distance as far as the Vazhukkappara Tavalam, and all the low lying land on the north bank of the river is submerged, the water extending up all the side valleys and reaching to within a mile of Kumili. From here a channel is tunnelled through the hill side over a mile long, by which the water is conveyed to one of the streams that go to feed the Vaigai river.

After a winding course of 8 miles from the dam, the river reaches Peermade and then passes through a narrow gorge, below which it is joined by the Perinthura river. Lower down, passing the Todupuzha-Periyar crossing, the Kattapanayar joins it and still lower the Cheruthoni or Chittar.

Lower down it is joined by the Pirinyankuta Aar and a mile later by the Muthirappuzha Aar, where the elevation is about 800 feet and there is a great fall of 800 feet in 4 J miles. There is also another fall called Kok- karanippara, where the river is said to tumble over a cliff 100 feet high, close to the above. The Periyar after receiving the Muthirappuzha river flows west-north-west for about 8 miles when it pours under a large rock which probably has fallen from the hill side on account of landslip. In dry weather when the volume of water is small, the whole of it flows under the rock. This has been exaggerated into a sudden disappearance of the river underground. The water is considered to pass into a chasm and emerge again only after a very long distance.

Ten miles below  the junction of the Muthirappuzha river with the Periyar, at Karimanal, the river becomes navigable or suitable for the floating of timber. It is then joined by the Deviar and passes the once populous village of Neryamangalam. From this place it flows for about 8 miles when it unites with the Idiyara or Idamala river. From here as far as Malayattur, the river, now a grand one upwards of 400 yards broad, is fed by numerous streams. Passing Malayattur and after a winding course of 14 miles it reaches Alwaye, where it divides itself into two branches, which again subdivide themselves into several small ones before reaching the sea.

The principal branch flows north-west and expands itself into a broad sheet of water. Another branch takes a southerly direction and is broken up into a number of small channels leading into the lake near Verapoly, while a third one flows to the south and discharges itself in the lake south of Tripunatora.

The Periyar flows through the Taluks of Changanachery, Todupuzha, Muvattupuzha, Kunnatnad, Alangad and Parur. The chief places on its banks are : — Peermade, Neryamangalam, Malayattur, Cheranallur, Vazhakulam, Alwaye, and Verapoly.

The total length of the river is 142 miles of which for the last 36 miles only it passes through inhabited tracts. It is navigable for boats for 60 miles above its mouth.”