Its the month of May and summer is here emphatically. The days are long and hot, with the warm balmy breeze blowing in the evenings sometimes. The water bowl is being visited more frequently by myriad birds to quench their thirst, which was missing couple of months back, which is a definnite indication of the passage of seasons. Also, you get to hear the loud, agitated call of the koel at various times of the day and during the early morning hours. Summer vacations are the norm of the day. Schools are closed and the bicycles are all out especially during the evenings, doing the rounds. The swimming pools are crowded with the gleeful voices of the children in merriment as they splash about in the waters. The color palette of the summer season are the cool cottons and the neutrals, in shades of mauve, lavender and ivory hues. The flowering trees like the Gulmohar, yellow labernum, and the jacaranda , add a splash of color to the roadsides when they burst into bloom. People reach for Nature's own summer drinks, like the watermelon and the tender coconut water, available in this season on the roadside shops. Of course not all is hunkydory with the advent of summer. Heatwaves occur in different parts of the country as the temperatures soar and is augmented by the humidity in the air. Afternoon hours are so hot that it may lead to exhaustion and dehydration if there is not enough intake of water. The roads are deserted as mostly all stay indoors unless unavoidable. People head towards the hills to beat the heat and you can experience the summer rush, in those places. Tickets are hard to come by and have to be booked well in advance. This maybe the downside of the season, but this season is definitely celebrated metaphorically in arts in general and literature. This season stands for sunshine, blue skies, hope, youth and innocence. In William Wordsworth's poem, I wandered lonely as a cloud, for example, the speaker talks about the blissful feeling of witnessing the beauty of a full field of dancing Daffodils. The words Indian summer can also be used to denote a successful time, nearly at the end of someone's life, job or other period, as in, "A star of the 1960s, she's enjoying an Indian summer with her second highly acclaimed film this year." It is also interesting to note the origins of the word summer as we delve into the annals of history. The word "summer", first occurs before the year, 900 and comes from the old English word for the season, "sumor", and is related to the Dutch word, "zomer", the German, "sommer" and the Sanskrit, "sama", (which means Year"). In the final analysis, its the season to get outdoors, get closer to Nature, splurge on Hikes or beach trips, learn a new skill and face life with renewed hope and happiness.
