Something that has invariably affected my state of mind and overall well-being is the weather and the climate, at large. For me, good and bad days come with a complete mental picture of the weather on the respective days. My levels of hunger, sleep, mood, lethargy are effectively regulated by the weather. So much so, that even if I am sitting in an air conditioned office the whole day, I, symptomatically behave/misbehave in direct proportions to the weather outside.
So, in effect, if I am irritable and have a 'not-feeling-nice' aura about myself, then it must be a hot and sultry day. I just cannot take humidity! Maybe because I was born on a chilling cold, winter night, my soul finds solace in winter. The summers are typically of two kinds in India. One is the very hot and dry one, and the other is moderately hot but a very sultry, sticky one! They can be equated to Delhi & Kolkata respectively. I can take the former much better than the latter. Humid places facilitate my clothes getting plastered to my body even after a bath! The worst days of my life are analogous to such a weather. In dry heat, if the scorching sun can be avoided, atleast inside my room, jaljeera and a water cooler brings respite!
Coming from Bokaro, which was more of the dry type, it was a pleasure to gulp down chaas/lime juice after cycling down on a hot summer afternoon, from school. Water is virtuos for me. & Any soul who offers cold water may live long and all his wishes be fulfilled. Also, a summer afternoon, wherein, the room has been cosily protected from the solitary rays, and I might have had a heavy carbohydrate lunch, a deep sleep is inevitable. There are hillarious stories in my life centred around these sleepy afternoons. When the sun descended after such an afternoon, and my mother would go out to water the plants in our garden, the aroma of what is typically known as "mitti ki khusboo" used to be mesmerising!! I really miss that in Mumbai :-( Metropolitan cities have no flavour of their own. They are all alike, according to me.
I pine to be at the bank of the river Ganga, as I did in Hooghly, during summer vacations. My grandparents stay there. The river breeze really takes away all maladies! It communicates volumes between people who are just silently sitting at the bank of Ganga.
Then, comes pouring down the blessings of the rain God! Indian economy, being agri-based, it's a blessing for the farmers, but for city dwellers it's hell multiplied by 5 times! In one such Monsoon, I was on a job hunt in Mumbai and in another, I marginally survived the floods. But Bokaro, which is located on the Chhotanagpur plateau, has differences in altitude in every road. So, the rain water flows down like a stream and it was fun peddling down through it and splashing off the water on some snob's car! ;-)
A good monsoon evening comes with coffee and pakoda and an afternoon comes with khichdi with butter/ghee in it. And, the fan of the 'goddess-of-sleep' that I am, the entire day from sunrise to midnight enforces that drowsiness in me and re-instills all faith in procrastination! Only that the dawn and mid-day look like, which misleads the signals sent to my nervous system - "It's time to wake up and go to work"/ "It's time to have lunch".
The autumns are usually nice - just like in Tagore's poetry! The Durga Pooja adds to the pleasure of the weather! Those who can smell the weather, recognise the change in colour of flowers & leaves, and can identify this season better. And since I am 'Rhituparna' (a leaf in every season), I can see it :-) (Except for in this ridiculous city - Mumbai! The phenomenon called 'The October heat' is disgusting! It's hotter than summer here in that month!)
Though I have never stayed in ice-cold places and am yet to feel the snow, but winters are indeed lovable! The flowers that bloom, the vegetables that grow in this season, the warmth of sunshine, the cosy clothes,all radiate positive energy unlike the constant stickiness in summers. In reminiscence, I cherish the memory of simple acts during schooldays - exhaling smoky air, cycling through heavy mist not knowing what's ahead, and warming the refill of the ball point pen in between palms to make it write! All good food, in my knowledge & taste, come only in this season. Since I am not very garment savvy, I like the fully clad look in cold, crisp winters. I have more fashionable sweaters/jackets than T-shirts :-) Unfortunately, winter is non-existent in Mumbai. In my first December here, I waited each day to feel the winter and slept in disappointment every night. The city, so renowned for its deadly monsoons has hardly felt winters. Incidentally, I got married in winter as well so it was added pleasure :-)
Falling into spring, I am reminded of practical exams, study leave for an exam that I will anyway not fare well in, or the disastrous onsalught (exam) itself. However, after a long spell of laziness in waking in the mornings, it starts feeling better. In school, post exams, I could smell the leaves of new books & notebooks along with the season, though, the content of those books never interested me ;-) In college, culmination of university exams meant a month of vacation at home. Also, 'Basant panchami' (Basant means spring), that coincides with Saraswati Puja, is a beautiful day. Bhog, orange/yellow/saffron colored clothes, books kept away for worship, fills happiness inside out of nothingness - one bright day out of the study room in that sad study leave period!
In the present corporate life, however, all these pleasures are more memories than experiences. I still pine to feel each of them till all my 5 senses are working! In the air conditioned offices, life has got too conditioned not to feel these zero penny but inexplicable wonders.
So, in effect, if I am irritable and have a 'not-feeling-nice' aura about myself, then it must be a hot and sultry day. I just cannot take humidity! Maybe because I was born on a chilling cold, winter night, my soul finds solace in winter. The summers are typically of two kinds in India. One is the very hot and dry one, and the other is moderately hot but a very sultry, sticky one! They can be equated to Delhi & Kolkata respectively. I can take the former much better than the latter. Humid places facilitate my clothes getting plastered to my body even after a bath! The worst days of my life are analogous to such a weather. In dry heat, if the scorching sun can be avoided, atleast inside my room, jaljeera and a water cooler brings respite!
Coming from Bokaro, which was more of the dry type, it was a pleasure to gulp down chaas/lime juice after cycling down on a hot summer afternoon, from school. Water is virtuos for me. & Any soul who offers cold water may live long and all his wishes be fulfilled. Also, a summer afternoon, wherein, the room has been cosily protected from the solitary rays, and I might have had a heavy carbohydrate lunch, a deep sleep is inevitable. There are hillarious stories in my life centred around these sleepy afternoons. When the sun descended after such an afternoon, and my mother would go out to water the plants in our garden, the aroma of what is typically known as "mitti ki khusboo" used to be mesmerising!! I really miss that in Mumbai :-( Metropolitan cities have no flavour of their own. They are all alike, according to me.
I pine to be at the bank of the river Ganga, as I did in Hooghly, during summer vacations. My grandparents stay there. The river breeze really takes away all maladies! It communicates volumes between people who are just silently sitting at the bank of Ganga.
Then, comes pouring down the blessings of the rain God! Indian economy, being agri-based, it's a blessing for the farmers, but for city dwellers it's hell multiplied by 5 times! In one such Monsoon, I was on a job hunt in Mumbai and in another, I marginally survived the floods. But Bokaro, which is located on the Chhotanagpur plateau, has differences in altitude in every road. So, the rain water flows down like a stream and it was fun peddling down through it and splashing off the water on some snob's car! ;-)
A good monsoon evening comes with coffee and pakoda and an afternoon comes with khichdi with butter/ghee in it. And, the fan of the 'goddess-of-sleep' that I am, the entire day from sunrise to midnight enforces that drowsiness in me and re-instills all faith in procrastination! Only that the dawn and mid-day look like, which misleads the signals sent to my nervous system - "It's time to wake up and go to work"/ "It's time to have lunch".
The autumns are usually nice - just like in Tagore's poetry! The Durga Pooja adds to the pleasure of the weather! Those who can smell the weather, recognise the change in colour of flowers & leaves, and can identify this season better. And since I am 'Rhituparna' (a leaf in every season), I can see it :-) (Except for in this ridiculous city - Mumbai! The phenomenon called 'The October heat' is disgusting! It's hotter than summer here in that month!)
Though I have never stayed in ice-cold places and am yet to feel the snow, but winters are indeed lovable! The flowers that bloom, the vegetables that grow in this season, the warmth of sunshine, the cosy clothes,all radiate positive energy unlike the constant stickiness in summers. In reminiscence, I cherish the memory of simple acts during schooldays - exhaling smoky air, cycling through heavy mist not knowing what's ahead, and warming the refill of the ball point pen in between palms to make it write! All good food, in my knowledge & taste, come only in this season. Since I am not very garment savvy, I like the fully clad look in cold, crisp winters. I have more fashionable sweaters/jackets than T-shirts :-) Unfortunately, winter is non-existent in Mumbai. In my first December here, I waited each day to feel the winter and slept in disappointment every night. The city, so renowned for its deadly monsoons has hardly felt winters. Incidentally, I got married in winter as well so it was added pleasure :-)
Falling into spring, I am reminded of practical exams, study leave for an exam that I will anyway not fare well in, or the disastrous onsalught (exam) itself. However, after a long spell of laziness in waking in the mornings, it starts feeling better. In school, post exams, I could smell the leaves of new books & notebooks along with the season, though, the content of those books never interested me ;-) In college, culmination of university exams meant a month of vacation at home. Also, 'Basant panchami' (Basant means spring), that coincides with Saraswati Puja, is a beautiful day. Bhog, orange/yellow/saffron colored clothes, books kept away for worship, fills happiness inside out of nothingness - one bright day out of the study room in that sad study leave period!
In the present corporate life, however, all these pleasures are more memories than experiences. I still pine to feel each of them till all my 5 senses are working! In the air conditioned offices, life has got too conditioned not to feel these zero penny but inexplicable wonders.
