Column | Window Seat

Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee

Summer

April is the cruelest month, wrote Eliot. In India April is the month when a brief spring gives way to a long spell of summer.

In many regions April is marked by different festivals as summer, the first season of the year begins. In Andhra Ugadi marks the beginning of summer (this year it was celebrated on March 29) with puja followed by sumptuous food. Interestingly neem and mango leaves form important part of the puja paraphernalia. This has several scientific and metaphoric explanations. The same pattern could be seen in different regions of the country.

A close look at the puja paraphernalia and rituals will tell you how close they are to the nature and environment. Problem is over time, we have stuck to the rituality without looking at its significance. Put simply we have started doing things mechanically, just because it has been done this way for ages without understanding the reason behind it. When this happens, the rituals acquire a rigidity. When we follow something or do something without understanding, it leads to a situation when bigots take over. They equate these rituals or say the rigid way of doing the rituals with religion. And it creates conflict.

As summer sun burns into the cold, let it ignite our quest for knowledge.

Photo: Ashok Panda

Summer 2

As summer sets in, you’ll see the familiar pictures of girls moving with their faces covered with dupatta and holding colourful umbrellas. This picture never fails to amaze me with its mystic appeal and riot of colurs. Then there will be this picture of people lining up for water near the stand posts or water tankers. In rural areas ladies’ going to far off places to fetch water has been a recurring picture.

Summer also brings with it the sweet smell of jasmine and fruits- lots of them, watermelon, mango, guava. At the lazy summer afternoons it has always been a treat to partake of lots of ripe mangos, soaked in water in a balti.

But for that I have to wait a bit as mangos have not ripened at the place where I live.

Cognitive dissonance

You have often heard this: Cognitive dissonance is growing in modern times. Cognitive dissonance is a fancy term for mental disharmony or a lack of peace of mind. If we consistently fail to do what we know is right, and/or keep doing what we know is wrong, we will lose peace of mind and experience cognitive dissonance.

Because we can't stand living this way, instead of correcting our behaviour, we repress and deny our feelings, rationalize our behaviour, justify our actions, start believing our own lies—and end up with a hardened heart and dead conscience. It is a dangerous course to follow, which leads to self-destruction.

Therefore do what your conscience says is right.

Life Funda

Ek din ek ladke ki girlfrnd ka BIRTHDAY tha. Boy was not in that city.

So, he ordered 24 RED ROSE for his girlfriend.

He called her up and said, Dear maine tumhare liye utne ROSE hain, jitni saal ki tum ho gyi ho.

While delivering florist thought: Ye aajka mera sabse achha customer hai, chalo ise 10 ROSE FREE me de deta hu. So, he gave 34 instead of 24.

Aur aaj tak ladka nahi samajh paya ki uska BREAK-UP kynu hua..!

Morale 1: Kisika jyada bhalai karne ki kosish mat karo, mamla ulta ho sakta hai.

Extra Dose: Hua kuchh yun ki, Woh ladkiki sadi is floristse ho gaya. Na Floristko pata na Ladki ko pata, break up ke pichhe kon tha.

Morale2: Wahi hota hai jo manjure khuda hota hai.

(Got the first part of the story from a fb posting. Extra dose by yours truely)

Tailpiece

Maine suryadev se puchha, Prabhu abhi to April ki bas suruat hai. Abhi se 40 degree?

Suryadev ne kaha, Pagle, Abhi to party suru hui hai...!

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The columnist, a journalist turned media academician lives in Dhenkanal, in Central Odisha. He can be contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com