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From the chill of winter mornings, to eating ice creams in hot summer afternoons, to the smell of wet earth in the rains, here's to loving each season for the joys it brings.
From the chill of winter mornings, to eating ice creams in hot summer afternoons, to the smell of wet earth in the rains, here’s to loving each season for the joys it brings.
It was an extremely cold and chilly morning with dense fog hanging around and hiding everything- trees, people, roads and even buildings near me. Delhi is known to be cold around this time of the year, but to me, that day seemed colder than the coldest. I stepped out of my hostel (its name proved quite apt that day- Kailash) and tried, carefully, to walk to the main building where we had classes.
Protecting my body with a multitude of layers of warm clothes, like a plump cocoon, I kept walking, slowly. I paced my steps carefully since the fog didn’t allow me to see even a metre ahead of me. And I tried using every other sense to avoid hitting or being hit by the fellow junta that generally moved in a hurry at this time. Students and professors, who mostly scurry for classes at this hour but were somehow unwelcome by the mighty fog of the day. It seemed like the fog relished in secret pleasure at arresting their standard fast pace.
I was hiding under all the warm layers with a yellow jacket as the topmost cover, my face hidden behind a monkey cap and muffler. Rubbing my cold hands together, I took a soft turn towards the building when someone whistled at me.
“Hey gorgeous!” the voice said from behind me. His voice was so coarse that I would have recognised it even among million others. It was Deep, my lanky friend. I didn’t even have to turn around to see him. He increased his pace to catch up with me and when he did, I glanced at him, slightly turning my covered head.
A simple jacket hung from his pointy shoulders. “Wow. You seem to be enjoying this weird weather,” I said raising my hands to cover my numb nose.
“Of course! I enjoy all kinds of weather,” he said grinning and stretching his thin arms.
“But I only like summers,” I interrupted, my hands still covering my still numb nose. “I like it when I can relish ice-creams and don’t need to pack myself in all these layers. My feet don’t get cold and nose doesn’t freeze like now.”
I paused before continuing, “I don’t even like the rains because it is all dirty, damp and wet all around. Well, I really hope this weather gets over soon and I can see my source of energy- the sun. Oh! How I long to see the sun.”
Soon a despondent look passes my face, AccuWeather shows that there will be no sun for the next four days. I mutter to myself about how much I hate the weather. All the while, Deep was listening to me, but made no comments.
After class, while we were at the coffee corner, he tried to pick up the thread from where I left it in the morning.
“So, what were you saying… you don’t like this weather?” he began.
‘Oh no! Please don’t start this again,” I said as I shivered and tried to warm my hand with the little heat the coffee cup provided. He took a long sip and shook his head with a fast jerk. It was his signature move whenever he wanted to make a point.
“You must enjoy every kind of weather,” he started professing. “Every weather carries it’s own lustre and beauty. Winters, I believe, showers bundles of freshness and love. The mighty green tress, breathing and puffing with a gust of fresh air.
“Oh! And the beautiful sight of the variety of flowers blooming at their best, spreading their fragrance all around. Birds singing their sweet voices, and the cold air caressing them with warm love. Also, when there is no sun you get a chance to look at the nature in its different charm. A totally different mood, different make up, you could say.”
I kept listening to him as I sipped my coffee, momentarily looking at his face and then at the sky. “This. Standing here, shivering and savouring hot coffee, can’t we consider that a wonderful feeling?” he asked before walking to drop his cup in the dustbin. By now, he had already triggered a shift in my paradigm.
‘Yes, I do kind of like it, some times,’ I thought to myself. “Okay. You may be right,” I screamed. “But what about the rains when there are puddles and mud. And everything feels cold and wet. You can’t possibly love that weather,” I claimed, shrugging a little.
“Why not?” he replied, making his eyes big. “Think of all the farmers dependent on the rains. For the food you eat comes because of these rains. The rejuvenated rivers, ponds and lakes. Think of all the boating and water sports you go for. Remember how peaceful you fell whenever you’re near the calm shores of a river? And how can you miss the various faces of the sky? When dense black clouds thunder with lightening, don’t they propel poet’s imagination to posit their beauty and capture them in words you are fond of reading. The peacock dancing in its glory. A lovely scene which every one wants to capture. The nature stores secret treasures for every weather and I think we must not miss it.”
By the time, he finished explaining his logic to me, my coffee was also over, and I had already started to like the cold there. It was like a shift for me. For now, the same layers and the numb nose were bringing a pleasant warmth within me. I looked around me- the white cover had receded a little and I could see the grace with which the trees stood enjoy the cold. They didn’t shine like they did in the sun but they had a dark lustre that reflected a different shade.
“Okay. Okay. I agree with you.” I said, smiling at him, only to see that he was smiling too.
Today, it has been some 15 years to that day. I lost all touch with Deep and I have no clue where he is. But every time I walk in the cold or am drenched in a sudden shower or am sweating in the burning sun, I think of him. He made me see the beauty of every season. And he made me believe that Mother Earth showcases them one after the other, all we need to do is enjoy it. All we need to do is relish the vivid shades each season displays with their grandeur and shine.
Picture credits: Pexels
Senior working professional in a reputed firm.Live,love and let live,my philosophy of life.Inside I am a complete nautanki who dreams all weird things.But secretly I do trust intense desires are read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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