A sunset may look like a sunrise,
a flat bread may look like a cake,
not all things appear as themselves -
to assume that is a mistake.
Mild winters often fool the public
into thinking it's already spring.
Remember that some leaves will wither
as the rest of the tree gets blooming.
A backyard can contain deep snowdrifts
as well as robins overhead -
call it a miracle or mundane,
birds flying in flocks of hundreds.
What's seen though is often not equal
to what you might manage to get.
Some stranger slams in from outside
and skews the whole game and the set.
Compassion's never a guarantee
that the very same will be lobbed back -
you can send all the cakes and roses
but karma's a tough puzzle to crack.
No particular time for despair -
it's an all-year, all-season thing.
Just like love, hope and happiness.
None of them is confined to spring.
The video above was sent by my school buddy Riki Roy who lives in Alberta, Canada, thank you Riki!
But why on earth should images of snow and ice and -30 deg C temperatures result in a poem on spring? Because it is Vasant Panchami here in India, which is a kind of advent festival observed 40 days before the start of spring. Vasant is the word for spring in several Indian languages, it is called Rituraj Vasant around these parts - the King of Seasons, the season of renewal and rejuvenation, of planting and growth. Cusp season, love season too, as it is the wedding season in India.
Just as a matter of info, the minimum temperature in Srinagar today, the northernmost provincial capital in India, is 1 deg C. And where I am much further south east, the min temps are in the 20s.
While we prepare for spring in India, my friends and family south of the equator are readying for winter. Indo-Fijians mark Vasant Panchami the same as Indians, though their seasons are completely flipped over there, they are observing a 'spring' festival during their own autumn, isn't that piquant? Yet they have completely adapted to the local seasonal rhythms for all practical purposes, they have to. The contrasts across the planet - extreme, awe-inspiring and aren't they utterly fascinating!
Wishing you a fascinating time full of inspiring contrasts. Happy February!
