How many seasons do you clearly feel?
In our younger days, we used to read that there are six seasons in India. These seasons are known as 'rhitu' in Sanskrit and in other Indian languages which have originated from Sanskrit. These six seasons (rhitus) are: Summer, Monsoon, Autumn, Pre-winter (Hemanta), Winter and Spring. In Bengali (which is my mother-language), these six seasons are: Greeshma, Varsha, Sharat, Hemanta, Sheet and Vasanta.However, in Delhi (where I now reside), people generally experience three seasons, i.e. Summer, Monsoon (which is very brief in this city) and Winter. In my locality, thanks to nature-conscious residents, we can feel the presence of spring also. But, we don't experience autumn and pre-monsoon seasons. The Bengalis living in Delhi realise that autumn has arrived due to Durgapuja, which is the biggest festival of Bengalis celebrated in autumn.
I am interested to know from the villagers whether they can feel the arrival and presence of autumn, pre-monsoon and spring in their city nowadays. Or, are these three seasons only confined in the text-books of children?
(I wrote this post for the contest, but did not post it due to my procrastination. Though the contest is over, I am posting it now. Hope the villagers would read it.)
