It's colder in the mornings and there's condensation on the glass windows - sure signs of the onset of winter. Also, the maidservant comes in late - another sure sign! Though it doesn't really get cold in Hyderabad (temperatures rarely go below 10 degrees C), the change in season is welcome.
The days are brilliant with sunshine, dusk sets in by 5 PM with the mingled smells of exhaust, wood fires and of dusty,decaying leaves. The streets are quieter, emptier and the shadows seem darker around the streetlights as they cast orange pools on the roads.
But the upside : there are more birds on the pomegranate , guava and mango trees in my backyard. The din they set up in the mornings is a welcome marker to the start of the day. They quarrel noisily over the fruit or while foraging in the dead leaves for insects. The Plumeria (champa) tree loves the sun and starts to shed leaves and will turn bare by the end of December. The Poinciana (gulmohar) tree luckily doesn't lose all its leaves but keeps shedding them like yellow confetti throughout the season.The skies seem bluer and the clouds mere puffs of cotton wool.
It's so hard to get my family out of bed and going in this season. They will groan and burrow deeper into their pillows to get me to stop pestering them to wake up. The sound of the alarm clock is the most hated thing in the house during these months:-)
Winter is the season for craft fairs and exhibitions in Hyderabad - perfect weather for shopping till you drop! This is also the season that we get to flaunt our sweaters and shawls, caps and scarves.
When I was a student in engineering college, I remember being amazed at the plethora of woollens available in Delhi. The women I knew thought nothing of wearing sweaters, pullovers or woollen stoles to match the outfits they wore! As a South Indian, my limit was a neutral colored sweater bought once every two years. After all, you got to use the sweater only for two months in the year.
I buy my sweaters at Bulchand's (which has now opened in Banjara Hills too) in Abids and at Monte Carlo, if I can find my size. Thanks to the craft fairs, we now have access to Kashmiri shawls and Nagaland/Manipuri shawls of bewildering variety.
The days are brilliant with sunshine, dusk sets in by 5 PM with the mingled smells of exhaust, wood fires and of dusty,decaying leaves. The streets are quieter, emptier and the shadows seem darker around the streetlights as they cast orange pools on the roads.
But the upside : there are more birds on the pomegranate , guava and mango trees in my backyard. The din they set up in the mornings is a welcome marker to the start of the day. They quarrel noisily over the fruit or while foraging in the dead leaves for insects. The Plumeria (champa) tree loves the sun and starts to shed leaves and will turn bare by the end of December. The Poinciana (gulmohar) tree luckily doesn't lose all its leaves but keeps shedding them like yellow confetti throughout the season.The skies seem bluer and the clouds mere puffs of cotton wool.
It's so hard to get my family out of bed and going in this season. They will groan and burrow deeper into their pillows to get me to stop pestering them to wake up. The sound of the alarm clock is the most hated thing in the house during these months:-)
Winter is the season for craft fairs and exhibitions in Hyderabad - perfect weather for shopping till you drop! This is also the season that we get to flaunt our sweaters and shawls, caps and scarves.
When I was a student in engineering college, I remember being amazed at the plethora of woollens available in Delhi. The women I knew thought nothing of wearing sweaters, pullovers or woollen stoles to match the outfits they wore! As a South Indian, my limit was a neutral colored sweater bought once every two years. After all, you got to use the sweater only for two months in the year.
I buy my sweaters at Bulchand's (which has now opened in Banjara Hills too) in Abids and at Monte Carlo, if I can find my size. Thanks to the craft fairs, we now have access to Kashmiri shawls and Nagaland/Manipuri shawls of bewildering variety.
Image courtesy: www.kohimaeducationaltrust.net
Have been reading: Loves Music, Loves to Dance by Mary Higgins Clark, some book by Lee Child that's putting me to sleep.
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