Winter,winter...here it comes!

The foggy morning, the cool breeze, the trees being pruned, the winter collections in stores, the dew drops on the grass and the clothes hung out to dry the previous afternoon, and hence, the need to hang them out for another afternoon….yes!!!  Finally, we are about to welcome the winter.

Dubai witnessed a terrible accident yesterday on Dubai Bypass road- a 35 car pile-up, some of which got burnt and at least 14 injuries. The side effects of the onset of winters…people get so lost in the beauty of the morning that they forget they are in conditions they are not used to…they continue to drive like mad, use hazard lights instead of fog lights, use high beams instead of low, and do not maintain safe distance…

But that hazard apart, the mornings are once again beautiful…and a time for tussle. I have started having arguments with kids if it is time yet to start wearing the school sweatshirts, or trousers instead of shorts, or full sleeves instead of short? Is it time to start taking out the woollens yet? Is it time to rearrange the cupboards yet?  Is it time to go shopping yet??

Visiting Bangalore once, many years back, we loved the mild, pleasant weather there but were surprised to see the locals wearing monkey caps and scarves and what not…I remember wondering what would they do if they were to encounter a Northern winter?? I think living in the desert has made us too like that…just a mild winter, and yet, we shop for sweaters and scarves and stoles every season!

My winters are never really fully welcomed without remembering the beautiful winter mornings back home. Thick blanket of fog, frozen fingers, wanting to stay put in the warm bed for just five more minutes (which passed more like a second!), not wanting to come out of the quilt, and yet having to get out of the house and go about the daily business of life…fragrance of tea during the day and mugs of beaten coffee at night, the  coriander and radish paranthas with desi ghee, the makki ki roti, sarson ka saag and jaggery, the packets of peanuts eaten every night in front of the TV or every afternoon basking in the sun, the room heaters, cold creams, the winter vegetables like cabbage, turnips and carrots, oranges for the right amount of vit C, dry fruits filled up in our school coat pockets, exams, and our own daily tussle with parents for wearing the right woollens! And more than anything else, the feel of cool air on your face…nothing has ever come quite close to that!!!

I am not sure what memories my kids will carry of their winters…probably camping in the backyard, going to the beaches and parks, and long drives, and doctors! With all the fruits and veggies available the year round now, they do not even have an idea of what was or is typically a summer fruit or vegetable or winter one. I am not sure if that is any longer important either…

What is important though is to be able to enjoy the beautiful short winters that we get…the only time of the year when our electricity bills drop- thanks to no need for ACs and shorter duration of water heaters  needed to be switched on (rest of the year we anyway get hot water!), and the only time of the year when we hope to see rain, and miss the gumboots and raincoats for kids (thanks to our underprepared drainage systems- the schools have been waterlogged badly in the past!). And, for the uninitiated, also the only time of the year when long forgotten friends and distant relatives suddenly tend to remember us…any guesses why???

Happy and healthy winters!!!!