Xmas trees in fairy lights, red and green décor everywhere, with snow real or make-believe, to remind us of hope, love, and magic to come in the year ahead. Amidst this surreal set up are Happy choirs, sweet reunions, experiments with plum cakes and gingerbread, and hearts warming up to mistletoe and wine amidst it all. It is that time of the year when the world lives like one giant Hallmark movie.
I often wonder at the divine order of things. Like how our hearts are at our warmest best when the world is harsh and cold. And it becomes so natural for us to take some of our warmth and gently light up everything around us. Love and joy reign supreme, the world is a better place to be and we know humans are capable of making it so. Guess that explains my romance with December.
Valentine’s Day is a February thing, but I doubt it carries the sparkle and charm of the Yuletide Spirit.
If monsoons are all about chai-pakoda-samosa, then the Indian winter is a litti-choka - sarson ka saag affair. Wrapped in shawls and stuffed up in jerkins, the North of India slows down to the melancholy rhythm of winter, with foggy mornings, delayed flights, and little bonfires.
You are homebound by the cold, with warm socks, a knit blanket, a monkey cap, hot beverages, and a comfortable couch … that sounds like an alluring setting to catch up on your reading!
The best time of the year to grab that classic novel, transporting you to an era of enormous mansions, elaborate costumes, rich language, and most importantly, a depiction of love that is unsullied by the grey in people that the world is obsessed with today. If that is not for you, how about a modern love story to deliver warmth and fuzz and a relatable grin, as the protagonists find and lose and find each other, more often than not in a Christmas setting! Maybe you are among those who lose track of the number of cookies they gobble as they read a thriller! And if the world of fiction is not your calling, then an intellectual escape is what you need? There is always a book to help you get started with a new habit or a hobby, or to retrospect about yourself!
Oh, wait! Maybe you love to play Santa Claus too … with your eagerness to shower everyone with gifts and remind us about the joy of giving! I don’t need to tell you the best way to excite a bookworm? Grab the opportunity to become his or her Book Santa. What greater gift can a reader treasure than a fresh copy of a paperback in hand! Trust me, they are going to remember this Book Santa forever!
I am a South Indian, I haven’t experienced the cold form of winter that the rest of the world is accustomed to. But winters make living by the seaside less arduous. It is not as humid and we bask in what you can call mild summer weather. The malls are decked, music concerts and great food beckon but I always remember to pick up some great reads to wrap up the year in a grand way. It isn’t any different this year too, except for a sorry looking Xmas tree I have put up at home!
So, what are you reading this winter?
Nithya Rajagopal is the author of ‘Over a Samosa’, a collection of simple stories about Life. Her book is available on Amazon. Click here.
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