Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Halcyon Deshi Summer Days

Grishsho…I love grishsho! I love the haze, the heat, the humidity, the long days and the evenings spent half-listening to favorite music tracks while catching up on some fun reading. I don't know why I don't seem to have as much free time in the winter – my schedule stays the same – maybe it's just that time seems to move more slowly in the heat, and that I change my priorities from ‘clean my room’ to ‘don a ratty, cotton tee and gypsy skirt that’s seen better days; fix some refreshing, chilled jug of lebu’r shorbot or if I’m feeling lazy, Tang; and just chill in front of the TV’.

Grishsho or summer in this city of ours stands for so many, myriad of snap-shot memories or events. There’s inhaling the fragrances and appreciating the blazing hues of the lush flowers in perfect bloom – the regal rojonigondhas, the sunny shonalu and kodomphuls, the fiery red krishnochuras and rongons (the latter which I used to pick as a child to suck out the honey nectar inside), and the sweet-smelling beli, bokul, jui and gondhorajs. There’s eating something really cold on a really hot day, which tends to send an ache right through your jaws and head, but feels oh so great. There’s standing for hours-on-end under the invigorating beat of a cool, cool shower, feeling the rivulets of water roll down your scalp and skin, soothing your over-heated body. There’s the sudden increase in TV commercials and press ads for ice creams, icy soft drinks, air conditioners, and prickly heat powders.

There’s the onset of thunderstorms and rains from Pahela Baishakah onwards, falling in synchronized plunges into the lakes and ponds, and which bring with them one of the bestest grishsho smells ever – bhija maatir shoda gondho. Too bad you can’t bottle it up and market it, haha. And you hear the timeless composition of Mother Nature – the roll of thunder, the rimjhim and tapurtupur of brishti, the cricketycrick of crickets, the croaks of frogs – pure music to the ears.

There’re the fresh, fresh summer fruits and veggies. I love the variety and all the beautiful colors! I remember as a kid eagerly awaiting my father’s return from the kaacha bajar with sopping bags teeming with luscious aams, juicy lichus and pungent kathaals. Brings back some delightful memories of being a carefree kid on a sultry summer afternoon, gulping down all the yummy treats till it felt my tummy was gonna burst. I still over-indulge these days! Guess some things never change, thank god!

Then there are a few items on the ‘I-can-definitely-do-without-these-during-grishsho’ list. There’s the dratted load shedding which goes with the territory of summers in Dhaka city, making the heat more unbearable. There’s the chance of getting food poisoning after having some questionable looking glass of juice from a street-side vendor. There’s bugs, particularly mosquitoes and ants, which suddenly seen to come alive in the armies! There’s having your clothes stick to your skin, all clammy and irritating. But these ‘concerns’ seem paltry compared to all the great things about summer.

All in all, grishsho kaal has it’s own addictive charm. So I’m gonna pull up an easy chair, nurse a glass of chilled float in my hands, and just take a load off my feet and lie back to enjoy the season in all its glory. Care to join me?

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