November: Winters have arrived

Greetings,

Lazy mornings, drops of dew, freezy breezes and the desire to never get out of the quilt; the winters have arrived. With the growing effect of global warming and the warmer… blazing actually, days in September & October, it was pleasant to see the mercury dropping with the starting days of November.

{Image: Byung-Cheol (Benjamin) Lee - Pinterest}

Winter is the favorite season of most people and a range of seasoned delicacies can be put at the top of the rationale, unanimously. We get to relish our sweet tooth with traditional desserts like gajar ka halwa, sohan halwa, malai makkhan and so on to tickle our taste buds. Nutritious cuisines made with ghee, jiggery, flaxseeds, celery seeds etc. keeps us warm, hale and hearty through the winter.

{Image: Pinterest}

Though marriages happen in all seasons, winters are the best keepers of it. Where the brides and the grooms, and the families get to style up their fashion quotient with ‘sherwanis’, suits & lehngas which are implausible in the melting summers.

Winters also give a needed kick to the tourism sector. While the snow lovers, and cravers for winter-sport descend at the hilly-valleys, despite the spine chilling cold; the party yearners visit the tropical area, Goa specifically to mention, to celebrate Christmas and new year, giving tourism a good boost up.

But, amidst the relishing and touring, there lies another side underneath that we as responsible and sensible citizens must notice; the deprived. It is a sad reality that even in today’s times, there are still people, who are homeless roaming and sleeping on the streets in the chilly winters. With no homes for shelter, no proper clothes and shoes for cover, we cannot even imagine their plight in the bone chilling winds, who try to sustain to make through one other night. But there’s always a way and we definitely can help to lessen the sufferings in various ways:

Ø  Share: whenever there’s an excess of food that we tend to sack mostly, what if we share it with the beggar/s or the needy we see in the street near our house. Not only it will avoid wastage, there will be a good deed on our name.

Ø  Care: we go out every weekend, especially on Sundays, to dislodge the weariness of our minds that congregates through the hectic week. What if we keep a small bag of spare stuff along? The point; that spare stuff could be anything: clothes, shoes, socks, literally anything that is of no use to us, but can be a reliever, if not life saver, for these homeless people.

Ø  Donate: Even if we not have spare stuff, we can still provide a helping hand by donating basic things viz. blankets, woolen clothes, or even money to the NGOs that are working for social welfare. One way or the other, the help must reach.

{Image: rediff}

I wish this winter you get a chance to change course of at least one life.

Before moving further, a look back at the heart rending incident that shocked many parents in September month, Ryan school murder. According to the new probes by CBI, there have been shocking revelations related to the case. The new report said that it wasn’t the bus driver who killed the child, Pradyumn, but a senior year student. And the reason for murder has literally blown our minds, forcing us to think, what’s happened to our psyche? For a mere motive to get the class tests delayed, an innocent life was taken, and the CBI says they have proofs to charge the suspect guilty.

Now, does this school-killing phenomenon, does it seem or sound familiar? Have we been hearing about such news; yes, in USA. The gun culture and school shootings in America have been sadly, regular in news. It may come to mind what that has to do with Ryan case; well a lot actually. Man is known to follow what seems to him, easy and colorful as the grass always looks greener on the other side. And by the time we realize the ground realities, we are stuck into it, deeper. The influence of western culture and lifestyle to our infatuated minds, that everything about the west is correct and unquestionable, is now leading into such disorder. Though no culture preaches evil, nonetheless, the lifestyle we have borrowed is now reaping unwanted results; intolerance and desperation, thoughtlessness in the attitude before committing such blunders. In the fast paced “modern” life where everything is connected through technology, we forgot to connect with ours, emotionally. We are so absorbed in our problems or issues or if not that, then virtual reality, we don’t feel the need to talk to our children. And so have they too, stopped sharing their feelings with us. This is the point where insecurity grows and children take such big steps without consideration.

In November, we celebrated children’s day. Let's pray that the future minds of our nation, and the world, receive apposite nurturing, so they can reason the situations well in a composed manner.



There's a famous saying, to succeed in life, we must be open to changes, to explore avenues that may take our endeavors further. While I prefer staying behind the scene, writing flash-fictions, when YourQuote,  an app based microblogging platform for literary enthusiasts, organised its open mic. event, I decided to take the plunge. It was a pleasant experience to meet like minded people, to perform amongst them, along with them. Click on below picture to see the video:

I performed narrative of a micro-fiction, "Are you a V"; a question that every woman is asked, but never to a man. Again a dig on our societal conditions and the disparity among the sexes. Do see the video and share your feedback.

See you next month!


'सियाराम'


[Visit my website: www.srirom.in to access my social profiles]