Winter Wins!

“Yes you heard it right, I hate winters, I said”. My instant answer to my friends when asked about my season-preference. To answer those gaping-faces my list of reasons will invariably start with- i) Sokal-bela-ghum-theke-otha(waking up in the morning) and folks, this ‘morning’ thing can vary between 6.30AM to 11AM; I mean whatever the time may be, I have difficulty to get out of bed. ii) To muster the courage to get into the washroom for bath and if it’s‘shampoo-day’ my diastolic will surely range between 100 to 120. iii) My perpetual migraine/sinus flogging me every now and then……. And the list goes on.

But when sat to write about something and making people count on my dislikes only; well, that would be injustice and ‘Gandi Baat’ as Shahid Kapoor would say.And when pondered on the fact, actually in an eye-blink my zero-power-bulb-face changed to 200W-power-bulb when plenty of things gushed out of my mind and queued in front of my eyes. Few of them are:-

•    Dhowa-otha-shokal (smoky morning)-

  Being acompulsive ‘can’t-eat-it-hot’ person, this is the only part of a year, I wouldlook forward to anything “dhowa-otha”. Starting from the foggy morning and its glee of haziness all around to “dhowa-otha-cha-coffee-bhat”(hot tea, coffee, rice) or whatever it is, it’s such a pleasure to eyes in these chilled days…

• Bichhanay pahar (Hilarious Hill)- 

  Winter means a mounded structure in one side of your bed which would be neatly covered with your bed cover and I call it ‘Bichhanay pahar’- right from my childhood till date. All the Lep, kombol (quilts and blankets) get a place on the bed itself and forms a‘hill’ like structure. Isn’t it the same scene in yours’? My favourite pastime in my childhood used to use this ‘hill’ as a slip and slide. I used to go to the top of the heap and slide away from there and no reproving would stop me doing it iteratively.

•   Hathe khori- 

   I spell it- S R E E M O Y E E…pheww!! So big aname I used to think, I still think and I am sure will be thinking in all thecoming winters. It’s my easy and mirthful substitute of tattoo which can onlybe done in winters—writing your name with your nail on your dry skin!! Thosewho do it, know the bliss and those who have not, what are you waiting for?

•  Olfaction-

Winter to me is about assorted smells all around. Notungur (molasses) or Nolen gur totop the list, Robbar er-mawton(Sunday’s mutton),peas kochuri,  fulkopir-torkari(cauliflower) would closely follow. Those who are convinced by now that I am an obsessive gastronomist (though I am), there is no reason to do so as I am equally charmed with the smell of other things too; like i) the smell of‘Pears’ soap in almost every house in this season. Very typical of Bengali household, I suppose. If they are mall- goers, its ‘Pears’ and if they are like my father (local bazaar goer) then it would be ‘Chasme glycerin’; and however irked I get to get into the bathroom these days, it won’t stop me to play with the almost-finished-brown-oval-thing which gives me a ‘golden vision’ whatever I see through it. And I love it. ii) Gyada-ful-er-gondho (marigold’s smell)iii) Another one which I miss now in winters is Amma’s (paternal grandmother) smell when she used to stand in the sun after bath. The atypical smell which is a mixture of sun, water and the Keo-Karpin oil she used to put before bath. Awesomeness.

• Chhat-Dupur, Khola chul aar Horek Ful (Roof-cheer,damp hair and tinted flower)-  

  Chhat is phenomenal in winter atleast for Bengalis. How I love the chat-scenes all day-long in any random Dec-Jan days!! Pink, Red, Yellow, Blue, Purple-name any colour and you get it there, bordering the rectangular area. We call it season of flowers. Marigold, Dalia, Rose of different colours- you will definitely get them in Bengali chhat in their Sheetkaal (Winter). A lazy afternoon, a warm-hearted sun, a straw-mat spread in the middle of this flower-bordered chhat and you let your hair down and sit in midst with a book in your hand when cold, gentle breeze flurrying your hair and the chirping sparrow cutting the silence oftenly- how about that? Lonely yet content? Tranquility which is euphoric? Well, in my word- Divineness.

•  Mela-r mela (Fair of fairs)-

  Colours, dust,bubbles, bhepu, candy floss, crowd, Rabindra-sangeet, the buzz- so very known!! Trade fair, Lexpo, Expo, Handicraft fair and many more. Whether you have something to buy or not, missing any of these is no less a crime.Then, comes the winter-Durga Puja, Bengali’s life support system; publicly known as ‘Book Fair’. “Ashchhe bochhor abar hobe” (will be happening again in next year) is the only affirmative that aids us to survive through all the five seasons to reach winter again.

Did I say I hate winters?? Did I? Click the ‘Ignore’ button then. Winter wins!!

Photo Courtsey: Author