A LEAF FROM AUTUMN...

May be because it is my birth month or may be because it marks the ‘zenith’ of the year on the astrological wheel, ‘October in Ranchi’ stands apart from the rest of the calendar in more ways than one...and it is only befitting that I sit down with my lappy this evening, trying to squeeze out the colourful pearls of memories from the chambers of my heart that are still awash with the most precious moments I have lived.

Autumn...yeah...autumn doesn’t manifest itself anywhere as exquisitely as it does in my beloved Ranchi... Needless to say, the utter ecstacy of the crisp dawns, followed by the summery noons stays with you like the smell of an English rose. The evening breeze has a melliifluous ring to it as the notes of anticipation waft through the air - anticipation of a rebirth - of the entire milieu sprouting back to life in the coming months.

‘October’ – it would be a pretty unfair business to call it just a spell of another 31 days that trail behind September – because the month encompasses a kaleidocope of mood, course and existence. A lone tree in silhoutte, sans its foliage has a story to tell – of its juvenile days, of it weathering the scorching sun and the tyrannous wind, of its bare branches that lie expectant of turning green once again to envelop the sweet morning dew and entrap a gust of tempest and of its roots that yearn to feel alive again... – and in this season, we all become an inevitable part of this story.

As the festive melodies become richer, the intoxicating fragrance of Shiuli flowers exude the austere beauty of their white-saffron petals. And it only serves to remind us how the ‘perfection’ of mother nature flows quietly and gracefully beneath the surface while the whole mankind is consumed in gearing up for fun and frolic!