Oranges and Winter Afternoons....

Remember those lazy winter afternoons sitting on the terrace with your grandmother while she dried her hair and guarded the drying boris and pickles?

While feeding you oranges she would be telling you stories from Thakurma ar Jhuli (this is a book of children's stories in Bengali)....how once upon a time a dashing prince saved a princess from an evil witch, of two brothers Neel Komol and Lal Komol, of flying birds Byangoma ar Byangomi, of moni mannikkyo (treasures), of saat rajar dhon (treasures of seven kings)....stories of once upon a time and happy ever afters....stories with the white and black sharply defined and no greys allowed in between.....

Smell of oranges on winter afternoons brings back memories of those far away winter days....school holidays, playing all afternoon in the terrace, trips to the zoo, circus, Botanical Gardens, Victoria Memorial...family picnics with people getting lost and people arriving late....the fun, the laughter, the singing, games of hide and seek, the chaos and confusion and of course an abundance of oranges....

A winter without oranges is no winter at all....