When I entered the Jahanpanah forest on Tuesday for my late afternoon run, something was different. As I peeled off my wind cheater in unthinking instinct, the realisation also flashed in my conscious mind: the air around me was noticeably warmer than it had been in quite a while. The Delhi weather had turned.
I ran happily, wondering if there had been any other signs of the impending weather change in the past few days...the only out-of-ordinary clue that stood out in my mind was from Sunday, when I had the good fortune to lock eyes, across twenty-odd metres, with the Fantastic Mr.Fox of Jahanpanah, bushy-tail-a-swishing in the cold breeze.
Our paths had crossed last in June 2010, at the peak of summer, when he must have ventured out of the bush, on to the human pathway, in search of water. Could his re-appearance now have something to do with warmer weather being around the corner? I have no idea, and would be happy to hear from anyone reading this entry, more familiar with habits of Delhi's four-legged foxes :-)
Anyway, I finished my run and walked back to my car, grateful that there was no cold breeze cutting through me today. Back home, a fragment of something once heard or remembered, about ancient Indian wisdom on seasons surfaced in my mind. I looked it up.
Sure enough, the Hindu almanac predicted the impending change of weather. On 14th of January, 2011, the Sun would enter the zodiac sign of Capricorn (Hindi - Makar), on its Northerly journey across the equator (Hindi- Uttarayan).
Although this may sound like esoteric mumbo-jumbo to those not favourably disposed to the world of zodiac signs, astrology, etc, it is actually grounded in physical, observable science. Here's one of the simple implications of this phenomenon for us:
For Indians, living as we do in the northern hemisphere of the globe, the Sun's ingress into the northern hemisphere means the sun has begun his journey towards us, bringing his welcome warmth.
This is commemorated as Lohri or Makar Sankranti (Literal Hindi: 'Capricorn-Ingress') in Northern India and Pongal in the south. The month of Magha or Pous (as the Bengali's call it) or Thie (as the Tamils call it, pronounced just like the English "Tie", but with the "th" sound instead of "ti") heralds the harvest season. The weather promises to get warmer with each passing day, since spring is around the corner. Global weather changes are beginning to take their toll on these age-old weather patterns, but large, macro-patterns are still holding.
My takeaway, from this whole business? For one, I thought it was really cool to discover that my gut-feel awareness and judgement about an impending turn of the weather tallied with our ancient wisdom :-)
Secondly, I feel that if we each take the time to examine some part of our ancient knowledge systems, like the Panchang (Almanac), the festivals and lifestyle recommendations based on such understanding and so on, we may discover that they are based on good, verifiable science.
If so, it would be a shame to let this wisdom, born of centuries of experience go to waste. I for one, would like to put it to good use in my life.
Have any of you found any such gems from our culture worthy of sharing with us all? It could concern any area of life - health, lifestyle, food...anything.
Do write in. Cheers.
Watermelons = summer. Its not ancient nor is it a theory but its a certain sign that the weather has turned, the sun has been warming up the melons and they make their appearance on the streets in gigantic loads. Watermelons, vendors and summer its linked like how. Remember the first year in Bangalore, i nearly jumped out of the car, because they graced the streets in January, a month i associate with.. well no melons
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