You might be a seasoned morning walker. Or a rookie one, preferring placid afternoons for your daily strolls. Or, you might simply love watching life pass by from your window or verandah. Whatever the case may be, you must have already sensed the shift. The shift in nature’s dimensions. The year is in its misty, yellowing days and Calcutta is ready to greet that blessed nip in the air. Quite often, the breeze comes laden with spurts of sighs and whispers. It’s cool, it’s balmy; we no longer have to wipe our moist brows. Sometimes a sudden lofty wind fills up the night. And the musing walker finds his or her familiar path not so familiar the next morning. Dry, bare branches, lifeless leaves, or broken flowers are strewn about the ground. The sunlight, too, has already changed its hue and feel. A magic gold drops from the sky on the humdrum sidewalks from Bidhannagar to Ballygunge. Days – already shorter – stretch on their crisp, luminous beds. A bit like merry tangerines making an appearance at the neighbourhood fruit sellers’ stalls.
We love this season. Summer memories now feel old and jaded. As if they have never existed. We feel at one with crackling trees and quivering winds; at one with the whistling tea kettle and the snuggly quilt.
The sunlight, too, has already changed its hue and feel. A magic gold drops from the sky on the humdrum sidewalks from Bidhannagar to Ballygunge iStock
Calcutta raises a toast to winter....
... and doctors raise their voices in concern. With the city air quality dipping to poor levels and pollution parameters shooting up, sundry ailments – forever a bane in wintry Calcutta – have started making a comeback. Respiratory discomforts, serious asthmatic trouble, flu, cough and cold, nagging fever, varied viral infections as well as pneumonia are invading households. This is the time when such illnesses compel children to stay away from schools, miss exams and their usual activities. Reports of sicknesses are making regular headlines across newspapers these days and one wonders whether there will ever be any foolproof way to stay safe.
With the city air quality dipping to poor levels and pollution parameters shooting up, sundry ailments – forever a bane in wintry Calcutta – have started making a comeback TT Archives
While such pensive reflections threaten to dominate the mind, a quick glimpse of advertisements helps. Rather, nolen gur does so. In a big way. Myriad outlets – across the city – entice us with bold communiques that they are now ready with their unique nolen gur/notun gur confections. Or, they are spreading wings, to unthought-of destinations, to make life effortlessly relishing for sweets-lovers. Immediately, the mind gets transported to the yellowish-white, creamy-tannish splendour of nolen gur delicacies, some of them hiding a rich heart of tender gur, ready to ooze out at the first bite. Calcuttans are now crowding multiple outlets of Girish Chandra Dey, Nakur Chandra Nandy, K.C. Das, Bhim Nag, Balaram Mullick and Radharaman Mullick, Hindustan Sweets, Ganguram, Banchharam or even the neighbourhood ‘Ghosh Sweets’ to savour these seasonal pleasures. The slightly downcast buyers standing in a corner could be diabetic – but they need not fret. Most of the confectioners have a kind heart. They mastered the art of concocting sugar-free varieties years ago.
Very soon, if not already, parks and such open spaces will be taken up by fairs, the latest rage among them being mishti fairs. Grandmothers, proficient enough to rustle up pithe-puli, rashbora, payesh or patishapta, are now quite rare in most families. But that regrettable circumstance no longer stops us from exploring winter indulgences. Head to the nearest dessert fair and the choicest of spreads will be laid out for you.
A selection on nolen gur delicacies TT Archives
Between the nolen gur extravaganza and negotiating our way through multiple fairs lies the universe of clubs, hotels and cafes. They gather deities and divas from Page 3 for lavish cake-mixing events; nimble fingers try out diverse baking tricks – a much-anticipated event in the city for the past many years now. And sometime soon, sundry savouries will make their way to our homes, hearts and taste buds. Once upon a time only a handful of outlets on Park Street and at New Market used to be staple providers. Since many years, cake and pastry and patty shops have mushroomed at every traffic signal.
The drift of early winter celebrations has already turned musical. Travel a little down this or that neighbourhood and you will certainly note that the much-loved classical music concerts are back. So are maestros singing or playing instruments gorgeously – sometimes all through the night. In fact, apart from presenting heavenly soirees, these are also occasions where woollens often make their earliest appearance.
Baubles and lanterns, stars and ribbons, stockings, reindeer and other cute Christmas ornaments are being stacked in big and small stores – from New Market to Gariahat to Hatibagan to New Town TT Archives
Art and craft fairs, fests and workshops are back. Shop fronts are going all out to display the trendiest winter fashion. Baubles and lanterns, stars and ribbons, stockings, reindeer and other cute Christmas ornaments are being stacked in big and small stores – from New Market to Gariahat to Hatibagan to New Town. The roots of loving this much-awaited season run deep in our city. Over the years, they have flourished merrily.
So far we have revelled in the stardust of the season’s delights. Yet, look at either a winter afternoon or the twilight in Calcutta and you cannot fail to notice its depleting mien. This is when “trees stiffen”, the air – unmindful – stills and the familiar sunlight often dries up like a wrinkled raisin. This is that lonesome time when you might unknowingly spot Moheen’s horses grazing under a waning moon. And your favourite place on the balcony sucks you into looming shadows...
On the departure of a fleeting autumn, winter finally shows up in our city to settle down.
Bring it home.
