Sandwiched between the sweltering gusts of summer and biting chills of winter is a temperate golden juncture; autumn. It is a season of yellow mists and mellow fruitfulness.Autumn is the symbol of change and transition. The easy summer days have gone. Bright light has changed to hazy golden aura. In the expense of green velvets, autumn offers a blend of colors. Sun is the most welcomed guest of the season. It makes evenings magnetic by painting the west horizons charismatic. The day time shortens while nights spread their dark wings so that we can relax for a little longer. William Shakespeare called autumn as deaths second self.After beating long working summer days, autumn is the time to rejuvenate. It invites us to slow our pace and schedule self-care. The garlands of dried veggies are hanging in the cookery. Morning harisa and twilight tea give autumn the festive attire. Guest birds roam in their new territories singing the songs of euphoria. Autumn brings with it the coziness and warmth, cardigans and woolens. Fans are off while elderly are witnessedfanning embers in their kangries (an earthen pot used as source of warmth in Kashmir).
Autumn is the season of fulfillment. What has been sown is to be reaped. Habits and seeds payoff before the year’s wrap up. Autumn is a peasant’s Holy Grail. This season owe theirhopeful eyes a pleasant harvest. The ripened paddy fields dance to the chores of singing bugs (cicadas) and dress the fields yellow.Purple flowers stretch the carpets of red-gold; saffron. Weather forecasts are kept handy. Calm fields and orchids suddenly gain rush. Farmers gather the produce and laborers their daily wages while children inspect the free fields where to play outdoors! A lazy man’s farm is the breeding ground for snakes and an idle person’s brain is the home for negativity.Inside every seed is the potential for an incredible harvest. We should sow our habits in a way to harvest our set goals. Autumn is the season of measuring success.
Major chunk of a problem is solved by its acceptance. Autumn rubber-stamps the process of building acceptance of uncertainty. Psychologists theorize that autumn hues trigger the memory junkies in our brain which often land us in the valleys of nostalgia. Sunshine not only grows sunny days but also balms formation of serotonin, the happiness hormone. Dim days of haziness push down serotonin levels which along with bittersweet nostalgia and vagueness of dusky winter invite seasonal affective disorders (SAD). Fall is a temporal landmark to embrace the change. It is the transition time to prepare for winter blues.
Nature is an elixir of bliss. Hikingthrough a forest, taking a stride along the banks of a shrunken river or watching people of different walks in a park fills us with the spectrum of positive emotions. Musical crisp of fallen leaves and healing touch of slow breezes award a priceless therapy. The dogma of Psychology hold out that red color gives motivation, orange improves cognition while yellow is the color of happiness. The prismatic warm colorsimprove our general wellbeing andink an impact on how we think, feel and behave. However, not everyone of us is an outgoing person. Those who love being indoors can take up what Danish culture calls “hygge”. Curling up with a blanket, a hot beverage, a good book or series, light therapy (sunlight or artificial dim lights) and choicest conversations (talking therapy) in a cozy aura redefine tranquility and charge our batteries.
The majestic chinar (Platanusorientalis) standing tall and deep has got its name from a word of Persian originmeaning ‘what a fire’. This name has been attributed to its autumn look. Chinar has its prominence in every season over the timeline of past and present. Under its shade, cool breezes whisper the promise of gentle summer while the sizzling spectrum of autumn make it royal hallmark of Kashmir. Mental, emotional and behavioral flexibility towards changing external and internal demands brings up resilience in our being. Concealing is not healing and escape is not the way out. Parallel to mighty chinar we all have the reservoir of strength that we can call on in times of need.
Resilience is not innate but acquired. People with this trait are neither inert nor see the hiccups of life with rose-colored lenses but are emotionally intelligent to accept and get off the hook. Autumn is nature’s way of displaying resilience. It is the season of giveaways. Autumn suffers the loss of old belongings, mourns through the cold winter and yet gracefully endures to make way for new beginnings.This autumn let us have ecdysis of our sensitive skins, shed off what doesn’t belong to us and giveaway what has been weighing us down. Bright summers, falling autumn and grief filled winter cannot shake the stem of majestic chinar which gives to every one of us the lesson of perseverance.
(Author is Veterinary Assistant Surgeon, Animal Husbandry Department Kashmir. Feedback: [email protected])
