Full Moon

Full moon during the hindu ritual of Shravan Purnima

An Aurora Affair

An aurora is a natural light display in the night sky, particularly in the polar regions, caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth’s magnetic field. The aurora most often occurs near the equinoxes.  

Aurora Borealis season in northern polar latitudes (Alaska, northern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Siberia) runs from August-thru-April. Its southern counterpart, the aurora australis or the southern lights, has similar properties, and is visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, South America or Australasia.

Green is the most common color in all auroras. Behind it is pink, a mixture of light green and red and lastly pure blue. Oxygen emissions lead to green or brownish-red, depending on the amount of energy absorbed. Nitrogen emissions lead to blue or red color. Blue if the atom regains an electron after it has been ionized. Red, if returning to ground.

In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis or the northern lights, named after the Roman Goddess of dawn, Aurora and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas, by Pierre Gassendi in 1621. 

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Night Jasmine

The 'Shiuli' flowers (Night jasmine flower) mark the arrival of Autumn and Goddess Durga, the most revered goddess in Bengal. 

 These autumn flowers have a mild fragrance and are white in colour with an orange stalk, which blooms in the months of September and October.

The flowers would bloom in the wee hours of the dawn, spread their heady fragrance and intoxicates all around.

The flowers fall from the trees as the dew drops in the early morning and flower lovers pick them up and generally place them in flat bowls to keep their rooms nicely fragranced.

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Monsoon Songs

Monsoon - there's magic in the word. There's romance in it, there's life in it. The intoxicating smell of damp earth, sprouting leaves, washed streets, knee-deep water, crisp air and lots of fun, not to forget dark ominous clouds rolling across the sky. The monsoon has inspired many of our art and cultural forms. The monsoon brings with it a feeling of love, longing and romance. It sends pulses racing. The monsoon, of all the seasons, has been a source of inspiration to poets.

Rains are usually associated with feelings of sadness and despondence but in India it is usually associated with romance, rejuvenation of life and joy. Still nature shows off some of her beauty during the rains. Dark clouds hovering in the sky over a scenic beach with coconut palms swaying in the rainy breeze is the usual picture on a postcard or advertisement for a tourist destination.

And of course one of the unforgettable memories of childhood is of children playing in the puddles and rainwater running in ripples across the road and the sweet smell of the earth after the rains. Every dark cloud has a silver lining they say and this is so literally true the sun shining through the rim of the dark clouds looks beautiful as if the cloud has a silver lining and all the trees look so green and washed and the water glistening on the leaves looks like beads of pearls shining on the leaves. Rains are a part of life and a part of nature.

Rains and Indian classical music go hand in hand. Music has always been linked to the emotional context, and as such has a profound influence on the listener. Undoubtedly an intangible and wonderful gift from one human being to another, classical music is considered the language of the gods and has a sublime effect with the sound of the rains. In India classical music has an esoteric experience integral to human existence. Careful intonation has always been at the core of Indian classical music.

Classical Indian music is rich, with its historical, cultural, aesthetic, theoretical, and performing facets. Melody is the fountainhead of this kind of music and ragas are the fundamental organizing principle of Indian classical melody. Ragas meaning colour or passion, are supposed to evoke various moods in the listener. The monsoon ragas, belonging to the Malhar group, are mainly performed during the rains.

You are transported to an intense awareness of the richness of human genius in artistic endeavors, where the sensual pleasure in sound is capable of levitating one to a higher plane of existence, and joy is this journey with the artist riding high on waves and crashing into troughs of spells created by the sound spectrum-the moods of ragas. When you listen to Megh Malhar, you experience it… live it.

There is thunder, there is lightning, heavy rains and human emotions in response to all this. It is not just about a musical arrangement that was composed to honour the rainy season and its consequent impact on the ambience. It has a greater, rather simpler base, which is, in turn, directly linked to folk traditions. From there it was picked up for refinement and codification. That was how Malhar became so classical in appeal and has become so enchantical along with the sound of the rainfall.

Music and dances of welcome herald the coming of the rains. It is the moment of madness, when love seeks love and life knows no death, and the music of the monsoon, the dance of the rain overwhelm our hearts and the spread of our land and leave us trembling in the hazy highlands of desire and fulfillment, of hope and fear, of promise and neglect, that unrecognized moment that cannot distinguish between the first and the last breath!

To see more pictures of monsoons and getting drenched in the rains, visit here...

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Maidan: Green Zone

The Maidan (literally open field) is the largest urban park in Kolkata and is one of the most picturesque areas of Kolkata . It is a green expanse which is all of 400 hectares. From the north to south, it stretches 3 Kms and is bound by the majestic Strand Road to the West and the famous Chowringhee Road to the east. Tolly's Nulla happens to be the southern boundary where the Kolkata Race Course and Victoria memorial are located.

From the North you can view the majestic Raj Bhawan or the Governor's House.The stretch of ground came into existence when the tiger-haunted jungle was cleared off which gave rise to the movement towards Chowringhee around 1746 from then onwards there was an effort to keep the greenery.

It is a vast stretch of field and home to numerous play grounds, including the famous cricketing venue Eden Gardens, several mini football stadia, and Kolkata Race Course. Maidan is dotted with several statues and pieces of architecture, most notable being the Victoria Memorial.

It was once home to the oldest golf club outside Great Britain - the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Due to the freshness and greenery it provides to the metropolis, it has been referred to as the "lungs of Kolkata". Maidan is a property of the Indian Army, and hosts the Fort William, the Eastern zone high command of the Indian Army.

Kolkata is famous for political rallies and the vast expanse of the Maidan is much preferred by the political parties. The rallies at Maidan attract huge crowds who converge at the picturesque Maidan and their passion reaches a crescendo when charismatic political bigwigs deliver fiery lectures on burning issues of the day.

The Maidan had also been host to numerous fairs and exhibitions – Kolkata Book Fair, Handloom Expo, Industrial India Trade Fair, Travel and Tourism Fair, Vidyasagar Mela, Lexpo and so on.The roads on the Maidan are dotted with tiny greenish bungalows (club houses) belonging to various sports clubs.

There are numerous patches for playing. Some of the larger clubs occupy the fields with wooden galleries, like the Mohun Bagan, East Bengal and the Kennel Club and Press Club also capture the limelight. The Maidan is not just cricket, football and hockey, apart of course from army parades. It is so many things to so many people.

There are shepherds tending their flocks, the health conscious citizens taking their morning walks, the last vestiges of the horse-drawn hackney carriages plying on its fringes  The core of the Maidan has remained untouched except for roads and tram tracks across it

For many, Maidan is a place for rest and relaxation, particularly in the scorching summer months when the temperature hovers around 40 degree Celsius. The lush greenery of Maidan is an open invitation for morning walkers and joggers. Fitness fanatics come to the Maidan and can be seen performing yoga. There are a few laughing clubs as well.

During the afternoon when it is lunch time in corporate Kolkata, executives come to the cooler confines of the Maidan to relax. Jhall Muri, a lip-smacking roadside snack is very popular with the corporate crowd. Maidan comes alive during holidays and weekends. But the young and the old come to Maidan to chill off from the drudgery of everyday living.

A carnival atmosphere prevails and children can be seen playing cricket, football and badminton in the lush green expanse while the elderly are busy gossiping about anything from local politics to rocket science. To entertain the stressed out city souls, street musicians play traditional instruments and one is also likely to come across the nomadic Baul musicians who sing enchanting Bengali melodies, just to keep the crowd in good spirits.

A novel way of experiencing the soothing beauty of the Maidan and its surrounding tourist landmarks like Victoria Memorial, Fort William and Birla Planetarium is by hiring a horse driven carriage. The beautifully designed horse carriages are designed as replicas of yesteryears royal chariots which were very popular with both British as well as Indian royalty. As you ride along the contours of the sprawling Maidan, you are transported to the nostalgia of the British Raj.

Maidan area is highly cherished by the people of Kolkata and abroad and it is a great heritage to have it among the public. This area is known as a major place for just lasting around. The place been the hub of these cultural actions in Kolkata.

The great Maidan presents a most refreshing appearance to the eye, the heavy night dew, even in the hot season.

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