The Blackbird

Okay, so it was just a crow. But it is worth writing about.

Today I saw a crow outside my hostel room window. And this is significant because there are NO birds in the campus. With the number of trees here, the lack of aviary life is unpleasantly surprising.

I was very excited to see my campus full of large trees. I was sure there would be like a zillion type of birds here. It's appalling that I've seem no, I repeat, NO birds other than some incessantly cooing pigeons. I think it is the lack of birds that makes the campus so eerily quiet once the dusk sets in.

However, there are a lot of butterflies. Apart from the fact that they don't sing, or make any kind of noise at all, their sheer variety almost makes up for the scarcity of the twittering, chirping and yes, sometimes cawing things.

There are two Flame trees right outside my window and if I get up early in the morning, I can be witness to this spectacular, multicoloured swarm of butterflies among the leaves. There are all possible colours imaginable, and many that aren't imaginable. Blue, red, pink, yellow, mauve, bottle green, vermilion and god knows what.

It sure is a pretty sight. But I still miss the birds.

Summer Waali Sunshine

Sweat. Odour. Prickly-heat. Exhaustion.

But also, funky shades. Shorts and sleeveless. Nimboo-paani. Flip flops. Cute parasols. Maybe even skinny-dipping.

Summers in Kolkata aren't exactly the most awaited season of the year. The humidity is intolerable and it literally (and scientifically) saps the life-energy out of you. You almost feel like a dog, and all that sweat doesn't go you much good with acne.

Yet, summer can be fun. I love lazing around in the house, indulging in reading or music. If I venture out, all I need is a slap of sunscreen and a spritz of my favourite deodorant.

Summer has longer days, and that means more time for fun! A refreshing drink of lassi at Esplanade at once livens me up for some shopping. In Kolkata, summer also brings the Mega-End-of-Year-Sale, the Chaitra Sale: one more reason to love summer!

What I love the most about summers is the summer-rains. I would love the feel of the cool drops of heaven on those darned prickly-heats. Also, after it gets really really scorching, mother-nature relents with what we know to be Kalbaishaki, or Nor' Westers. If I don't find myself caught in one this summer, the season goes in vain.

No, no amount of Maza or Frooti or Slice shall quench my thirst of a real, sweet, yellow mango. And, okay, maybe it only adds to your waist-line, but I love mangoes and will eat any given number of it. My summer is incomplete without the pickle of unripe mangoes, our beloved Kacche Aam ka Achaar. My mother makes this brilliant mango delicacy, involving unripe mangoes in a clear turmeric curry, and I'm head-over-heals with it.

Summers are, for me, perfect for the girls'-time-out. Be it a brunch or a luncheon, summer is the time when I love to slip on that comfy cotton dress and mix-and-match hats and shades. I'll share a secret, shades are brilliant camouflages while checking out that hot-bod!

Now that summer is on, it's time to turn on the fun on full swing too. I'll shop till I drop, read that pending novel and take coolers every two hours. What about you?

Written for "The Lakmé Diva Blogger Contest", 2012.
I Love Lakme