20-20 is something most of us Indians love watching on TV from the comfort of our homes, with friends and family. But the year 2020 has been a disaster for all except those in the pharma and medical diagnostic business from the retail to the manufacturers. They keep their social distance with a view to making a pile out of the winter season setting in.
“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home,” said Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell DBE (7 September 1887 – 9 December 1964), a British poet and critic. And it’s true for most of us in India. The Cold outside leads to the warmth inside much like COVID-19 outside led to Quarrels within because of the confinement. But the summer is over, and the heat of the moment is now the cold logic of tomorrow.
But that is for those who have a home to go to and curl themselves up in bed to take advantage of the longer colder nights and shorter hotter days. Lazing around in the cold weather is par for the course.
But, for those who do not have a roof over their head, the winter is as harsh as summer, just as hot – for the cold burns like hell right through to your bone. And this winter for many in the hinterlands of India and Karnataka it is going to burn much like when the COVID-19 Swab test is done because residential conditions have worsened over the year including the price of onions and potatoes. For those hoping to have a lazy brunch that is a big turn off.
Nevertheless, winter is a time that all of us look forward to – its lazy ways, its cold outlook that brings on the warm hugs, and for some, the chance to play like children in the snow. Winter, as a season, is also something of a joy to behold because around the world and in some parts of India it is a festive season, with lights and carols with Santa leading the way. This year though Santa has said, he will have to maintain his social distance.
And then there is the new year, a year everyone is waiting for, much like they did wait for 2020 last winter. And what a year it turned out to be – no other season but winter. What will the new year herald?
Still, I love winter, because the Paris agreement on climate, says it should be cold, not too cold. But nowadays I must confess it’s more of a Disagreement with Paris as I feel hot when I should feel cold and I get the chills when I should be having pleasant thoughts about the future in pleasant weather.
But don’t mind me. Just enjoy the weather as you feel it. There’s no other way; for as Anne Bradstreet, wrote in Meditations Divine and Moral “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
