As I opened my window this morning I felt a nip in the air. The sky was overcast and the neighbourhood was unusually quiet. Winter is here and I guess it’s time to stay tucked in for a little longer.
It is an unforgiving month. Schools are having their final exams and children are eagerly awaiting their winter vacations- about three months of glorious holidays. Soon there will be an exodus of people who head down to the plains to escape the chill. Taxis are booked and whole families with their luggage, gas cylinders and pets rush to Siliguri. The weather is warm there. Children can hone their cycling skills. Mothers wax eloquent about the fresh vegetables. You can practice your Bengali upon unsuspecting shopkeepers and “maach-bhat” never tasted any better.
For some of us, the hills are home all year round. Winter means digging your cupboards for caps, mufflers, jackets, gloves and warm socks. Everyone in the family gets an individual hot water bag. Heaters and electric blankets become our shields against the cold. It is also time to tweak the menu- hot soups, noodles and momos rule the roost. You can catch up on your reading –the latest best sellers or your old favourites - the Louis L’amours and Agatha Christies.
Our childhood winters were spent playing hide and seek and cricket. The thrill of making wheels out of discarded plastic pipes and racing them down lanes and bylanes occupied us for the entire day. At the end of the day, we were covered in dust and our noses would be numb with frozen snot. A cold wash followed by a liberal daub of good old Vaseline on our faces and limbs would be mandatory.
Evenings meant campfires around which you gathered for the interminable yarns about ghosts, ghouls and the restless spirits that haunted our hills: real life incidents about the headless man or the eerie footsteps that followed you as you returned home late at night. By the time the stories came to a close, you did not remain man enough to venture to the toilet alone! As the embers slowly died out – the roasted potatoes would be an eagerly awaited treat.
Now we can look forward to the Christmas cheer and the New Year just around the corner. And with luck, a snowfall to decorate the season.
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