I was lying in bed this past Sunday afternoon, when I chanced upon a rather pleasing observation. For those of you who are dying to get the inside scoop on your favorite columnist, here’s a useful bit of trivia: I excel at this sport. The lying in bed bit, that is, not the chancing upon of pleasing observations. The p.o’s, alas, are few and far between.
But this past Sunday, as I was saying, I did chance upon one. Lying as I was on my back, staring up at the ceiling, it was particularly easy to observe, but here is my incisive insight.
The fan, the eagle-eyed undersigned noted, was off. And that, dear reader, I’m very happy indeed to report, means that winter is upon us.
Of the three seasons that the weather gods bestow upon our lovely city, my favorite without a shadow of a doubt is winter. I resist, every summer, the urge to throw everything out of the refrigerator and stuff myself in it, and I cannot stand the spirit-dampening greyness that is the monsoon. But winter? Ah, now we’re talking. Truly the queen of seasons, the one bright spot in an otherwise unrelenting, grueling and sapping year.
Allow me, if you will, to walk you through some of the advantages of winter.
Dappled sunshine feebly trying, and wholly failing, to disperse the chill on cold wintry mornings is how the days start in these blessed months. A walk in these pleasant climes, if you feel up to it, is just the thing to whet up your appetite, so that justice can be done to whichever cafe you are walking towards. It also enables you to wash down that breakfast with multiple cups of coffee, always and everywhere a good idea. (Of course, if you’d rather cuddle up under the blankets for another hour or so, winter provides you with that option as well.)
It is by now a well known scientific fact that tea tastes much better in the winter than during the other months of the year, and especially so when paired with generous amounts of grated ginger.* And if, to dunk in said tea, you hold in your hands a particularly well made ginger biscuit, well, then. Really. I currently favour the biscuits made by the Flour Works bakery in Kalyani Nagar, by the way. If you know of contenders that might replace my current choice, get in touch.
I’ll make the tea, you get the biscuits.
And above all, more important than breakfast and tea: succulent barbecues on hazy winter evenings, accompanied by, if the spirit moves you, a particularly fine snifter of peaty whisky. Add into this mix the easy laughter and relaxed companionship of close friends, and the pleasant prospect of days like these to follow until the middle of February, and why, I might even view the construction of the Pune Metro with benevolence.
Actually, scratch that. Nothing’s going to change my opinion about the Pune Metro.
*All nonsensical, of course, but if we are living in a post-truth world, we may as well take advantage of it.
He doesn't expect the paradox to be resolved in his lifetime
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