Monday, November 17, 2008

SEASON'ed Contemplation

These days, I unlock my day a little late than usual, and keep bargaining for “just two more mins” with myself. An hour up - still under the duvet, I have to trade-off: either attend the classes or stay back and appreciate the lovely weather outside. I, obviously, pick the latter.
Though I believe every season has its own charisma, winters are special. It manages to create an “elusive calm” in my mind, like none other. There is no harshness of the summers or the melancholy of the rains… and spring though beautiful; you miss it before you know it has set in! Winter comes right at the end of the year (at least in my part of the globe) defeating all the other seasons – to give life a much needed stillness.

After idling around in my bed for another 20 mins, I step onto the terrace, wrapped in my woolens, and it starts drizzling. I drag in as much fragrance of the wet earth as I can- and I wish I had a magic box in which this smell could be kept captured forever. The fog, though not very dense, makes everything appear vague. The only thing clearly visible is a small road speckled with the rain water, on which a brown colored stray dog (lazier than me) is curled up like a ball.
The droplets of water and the chilled air try to pleasantly pierce through the pores of my skin. My palms look pale and the finger nails -light blue. But it’s too mesmerizing a place to leave. I enjoy holding the small stainless steel glass of piping hot tea in my palms, trying to absorb the heat -as I sip it miserly, so that it lasts longer.

The sky is grey and gloomy, the winds disturbingly cold - and then the most beautiful thing I have ever known appears - the winter sunshine. In a moment, everything lights up. The leaves of the trees shine as though an artist has just colored them - and the paint is still wet. The droplets on my black woolen act as small mirrors, reflecting the sunshine and looking like tiny stars. I open my palms, to soak up as much warmth as I can. As I close my eyes and stare at the sky, a golden-yellow warmth seeps into the soul taking me to a place where I have never ventured before –nirvana-(ish) ;) indeed !!
I sit there wondering, about the contrast – of cold and warmth. Each is incomplete without the other, and each derives its meaning from the other-half. Just like I realize the value of home – after being a migrant for 4 years, or , say, we term someone beautiful, only because we know what is “ugly”. Without the ugliness, beauty loses its significance. At a more macro level, I thought, we value happiness only after life gets interspersed with bouts of grief and sorrow.
I thought as I came back to my room…this little contemplation was worthwhile – much more than the classes I bunked this winter morning.

19 comments:

Isha said...

I think no one else can relate to it more than me...as i have experienced it all with you as an accomplice....and let me tell you this is one of the best things i have ever experienced with you and the nirvana is the best thing which sometimes happens to us ;)

Chintan Patel said...

"These days, I unlock my day a little late than usual, and keep bargaining for “just two more mins” with myself."

This is something that i can completely relate to.


BTW remove word verification for comments.

Anonymous said...

lvery well written and beautifully worded.
keep writing , hope your works earn you bigger reputation and name one day.
you are gifted .

ArUn raFi said...

hey hey hey!!
beautiful and sincere..these were the two words tht i could think f readin the post..
winters are a treat to have !!jus love tht chill and the wet earth scent and the painter colored trees!!seems like a differnet shade of green altogether..
classes are definitely worth bunkin fr during sucha climate and evn better wud be to have an amazingly lazy nap after u hv contemplated th nature outside.yawn!!
cheers
have a great day..

YogeshDugar said...

"And so on into winter
Till even I have ceased
To come as a foot printer,
And only some slight beast
So mousy or so foxy
Shall print there as my proxy".

first line is correct with me also, keep changing morning alarm for 10more mins everyday..

manan b. said...

hey Pooja
great piece! your writing reminds me of Ruskin Bond.

simply beautiful & beautifully simple!

pooja said...

hey thnks thats v sweet of all of u :D , m sure we all can relate to it , just need some moments like this and the time to cherish them ..

Nithya said...

It is like a artist's painting or poet's poem. magically beautiful.:)
write more of descriptive tuff. u are too good at it.

DestinyFavChild said...

Want to remember those chilly nights,
Those rantings and ravings and silly fights,
Those carefree days spent with a smile,
Those days days when I even used to "think" for a while...

Why doesnt winter visit Bombay ? :|

Gypsy Couple said...

nice nice ....

midfinger4u said...

Hey Pooja....good to see you still write..keep it up..kinda propels me too!!

pooja said...

@ prasun ..ek hi kaam toh ata hai yar thek se ..so just keep scribbling :P
plus as rightly said above,we seldom get such exp in mumbai ,this is exclusive shankerpalli magic :P

Vishnu said...

'Elusive Calm'
What does that feel like?

pooja said...

eluxive calm ..hmmm...if only everything could be put into words !...:sigh!

nea said...

i think this is ur finest piece (so far ;-) )

umangexuberance said...

you write beautifully..
there something very classic about your style
have blogrolled you
tc

pooja said...

thanks nea & umang ..glad u liked it :)cheers

Kakoli Mukherjee said...

its a beautiful piece pooja..very well written, the flow intact..all the sights and smells captured..anyone, irrespective of being a nature lover or not, would have been touched by the magic of a winter morning...brilliant..:)

Zendagi Migzara said...

The sight, the experience very well described buddy..

Actually pictured the lanscape in front of my eyes..

Great work...