Is it already 'goodbye' winter?

 

Is it already 'goodbye' winter?

 

Where I live in this sub-tropical region, the average daytime temperatures in January range from the coldest 10 to a high of 23 degrees Celsius. The intermittent rain makes it feel colder. There is no snow, only foggy cold mornings and chilly nights. (Those who like to sound knowledgeable, would point out that the night temps may fall to 0.5 degrees C, but who ventures out in a winter night to experience that anyway?)

Yet this week saw as high as 27 degrees C. The unusually warm weather in the second week of January is causing me concern. Is it due to climate change or just freak weather? Maybe nature has realised that it does not have to oblige us by following the temperatures and weather conditions expected of it, or is it being kind to the protesting farmers in the frosty nights of Delhi?

I am not researching the reasons. I am only hoping it is an oversight on the part of natural elements and they would soon pull the mercury down so that we can have a decent one month of winter. Otherwise, this year too would be a disappointment.

You want to stop my commentary and check if I like winter? Of course, I do. When sometimes I have this strong feeling that I am a minority in several respects, being a winter-lover further affirms my position in that bracket. Yet I am ready to risk that for the sake of the plus points of this season.

Winter here means that the misty quiet mornings give way to warm haze later with the cold wind reminding you what season it is. Those days when the sky is overcast make me long for the beautiful white of snow everywhere of European winter. The cottony flakes would cover every exposed surface. In the cold and crisp air you could identify your breath. It is these scenes which make beautiful post cards, not the blazing 45 degrees C or 35 degrees C with 95% humidity in summer.

Thus to make the most of what I have, I enjoy the Lucknow winter. The sun turns lazy; it comes late and goes away early, giving everyone ample time to snuggle up in warm beds, a luxury (or temptation) only winter can provide.

My biggest source of happiness is that lizards go away in these months. Barring some daredevils of the species, mosquitoes and other bugs are also scarce. The food forgotten on the kitchen counter overnight does not go bad for the bacteria too are comparatively inactive.

Winter is the time for indulgence. Who doesn’t love comfort food on cold days? Endless supply of steaming adrak (ginger) or masala (spiced) chai, hot chocolate, kahwa (Kashmiri tea), coffee, soups, stuffed parathas with tangy gobhi-gajar ka achar (cauliflower-carrot pickle), colourful veggies and fruits, carrot or any other halwa, spicy mutton curry, sarson ka saag (mustard greens) with dollops of butter, nimona (crushed green peas curry), rasam (spicy lentil soup), everything hot and peppered or fried, flows down the throat and warms up the insides. Foods with a lot of ginger-garlic or sugary treats which tempt you with the aroma of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg are welcome any time of the day.

Sharing mounds of roasted peanuts, popcorn and sheets of chikki (peanut brittle) and gazak (sesame and jaggery confection) or boiled shakarkandi (sweet potatoes), with family or friends in the dull warmth of the sun on a Sunday afternoon, is time well spent. Winter festivals like Christmas, New Year, Lohri, and Makar Sankranti all bring their own array of special foods.

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Summer is too demanding. People want to show off toned muscles and bikini bodies. The weeks of low temperatures are the times for putting that thought aside and revelling in carbs, an overload of them. They fight the cold, remember?  

Packed to fight the chill, you feel clean and comfortable. There is no sweating and no fear of stinky, sticky bodies jostling you in crowds. Saris with tiny blouses are out. Also, changing your clothes to go out is passé.  Layer up in colourful woolens or throw on a parka, phiren, coat, shawl, or haul a heavy jacket. Pull up your soft socks (literally) and show off those comfy shoes. This year masks might help prevent the ‘red-nosed Rudolf’ looks. And children look oh, so cuddlesome, and cute.

Baby Rayana’s photos Courtesy: Shalini Sinha 

Hair hidden under bands and caps needs minimum hairstyling efforts. Forget the cumbersome summer skincare requirements. Stick to only one item – moisturizer/lotion. Those of you, who don’t mind using oil, can slather yourself with warm oil and enjoy a massage as well. For the fitness freaks too, this is the right season to torture their bodies.

The days are short and after work what seems perfect is eating, watching TV, or reading a book curled under the razai (quilt). Additionally, the feel of wool sliding under my fingers as I knit, is pure joy that this season brings for me.

On top of all this, the electricity bill is less than a quarter of what it is in the summer months when all the fans, coolers and ACs are working. And even if the supply is disrupted, I don’t complain much.

Winter brings with it other kinds of small victories. In our country, houses are generally not heated so the race to get dressed with the speed of time as you exit the bathroom after a bath, to fight the shiver as you change clothes to go out (or when you lower yourself on the toilet seat), the search for that crevice or window through which the gust of wind trespasses in, the chill on your back as you toast you hands in front of a bonfire or edging towards the room-heater/blower for a better angle in office, the urge to pull your hands from under the tap as cold water stored in the overhead tank turns them numb, sitting on a chair already warmed by the one who left, thrusting our hands deeper into pockets when somebody offers their ice-cold phalanges to shake, peeping out of the hole you made in the quilt hut over your head to check the time, all make some sense. Even the plants live a quiet life, demanding only the minimum effort.

So, stop hunching your shoulders, make yourself warm and cosy and savour the season. If you don’t enjoy the time now, before you realise, it would be that familiar blistering summer upon us. Long months of heat, sweat, loo (hot blistering wind), sticky and oily skin, limp hair, constant thirst, lack of appetite, restlessness,  insects (and bacteria too) everywhere, humidity, high power bills and if there is a power cut…!

 

 

Don’t say I did not remind you!