9.something!

Winter! The season which habitually went unnoticed to the people of Mumbai all these years. Usually the period of Christmas & New Year was all that comprised the 'winter season' for Mumbai. Winter was considered too lazy to get up & make its presence felt; a lazybone who had no plans to take efforts to grab the centrestage from November to January!

But in 2008, things weren't meant to be the 'history-repeating-itself-once-again' type for dear old Winter. And now, he's back... with a whoosh! He's gonna 'chill out' for some time now & let others take the 'chill-pill' too. Winter met me the other day & told me that he was very influenced by Chetan Bhagat's '5.someone' & hoped in coming days he would release his own book titled '9.something'. Before I could ask him what the title meant, Winter dissapeared into the morning mist & I continued my walk to college with hands tucked inside my pockets with Madonna's 'Frozen' playing in my ears...

It didn't take me many days to decipher that title. Mumbai recorded the lowest temperature in 46 years with mercury dipping below the 2-digit mark, before settling at '9.something'. This dip pleasantly surprised everybody. The woolens that were for many years, kept deep inside the wardrobes suddenly came to 'life' with the chilling winter air, cold as 'death'. Mufflers, sweaters, jackets saw action, braving the fogs (or smogs!) & getting a million hugs from their wearers.

Small, mundane activities suddenly became conspicuous - washing your face in the icy cold waters early in the morning, sipping on a hot cup of tea in the frigid weather & even a warm, mushy hug from your near & dear ones!! Winter for me had never been so pleasant. Hope Winter leaves me with more surprises; perhaps the sequel of his book! May I suggest '8.something'?