William Shakespeare spoke of the Seven Ages of Man in his play “As You Like It,” it is one of his best soliloquy by the character Jacques and this is the spin off from there. I would like to suggest that each ritu or season reflects a duration of a human life.
Our lives are filled with the six seasons or Ritus. The Vasanta (Spring) or when born into this world and your only connection is your parents and close people around you. When it is Grishma (Summer) or those days of gurukal or educational days are the summer of your life.
The Varsha (Monsoon) lands when the young growing mind and body picks up the soaring notes of youthhood. When Sharad (Autumn) or middle age is filled with responsibilities and shredding of old ideology to create new ones through sheer force.
That is when Hemanta (pre-winter) or the swinging 60’s arrives making incredible wonders to thoughts held so far in life. Then finally, comes the Shishira (winter) or changed circumstance of having lost a partner who has seen 1000 moons with you and that kind of winter makes for an excellent reflection of life lived so far.
Split of Months to the corresponding Ritus
| Name of Ritu or Seasons | Duration in Months |
| Vasanta Ritu or Spring | March-April |
| Grishma Ritu or Summer | May-June |
| Varsha Ritu or Monsoon | July-August |
| Sharad Ritu or Autumn | September-October-mid November |
| Hemanta Ritu or Pre-Winter | November-December |
| Shishira Ritu or Winter | Mid-December -February |
The Georgian calendar month states that the first of January is the New Year, but according to the Indian Almanac which follows the Lunar and Solar movement in combination, states the new year falls closer to Vasanta ritu or Spring.
The movement of the Sun from the south to the north marks the Uttarayan time and the during the post monsoon period the Sun starts to move from the north to the south marks the Dakshinayan time.
The question is not as to who is right or wrong. Or which calendar is accurate in gauging the human life. Earlier people used to live close to the seasonal changes and the variety of vegetables, fruits, and other condiments are prepared based on the seasonal produce of that specific ritu, which also aided the easy digestion and right nutrients for the specific season.
With modern day farming the fruits and vegetables are available throughout the year giving rise to use of food that are inappropriate to the specific season. This results in much confusion and complication to the way the ancient Indian medical science or Ayurveda prescribes.
Culmination of Ganesha Chaturthi Celebration
Now every time when the Ganesha Chaturthi gets over, the season and the Sun seem to wind down for the year. For me Post Pongal festival, it is the life beginning again. But post Ganesha Chaturthi, it’s time to wind down to the speed of the ritus or remaining three seasons. Everything is getting ready for hibernation and the festivals are also about winding down.
The first festival that comes after Ganesha Chaturthi is Navaratri. Now the interesting thing about Navaratri is that it is a female based festival, and it involves the fury of the Mother or the Female power. The three goddesses who are revered in this festival are Durga, Lakshmi, and Sarasvati.
India is a land of diversity and so are the festival celebrated across the nation.This festival is celebrated in different ways across India and each state has its own way of celebrating it. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari and from Mumbai across to Kolkata taste and splendor of this festival is incredible to watch.
In My Imagination of the Seasons
The Spring to Summer is a time to grow and to expand when the Sun lightens the land. Monsoon to Autumn it calls for wiping the slate of life clean and let old thought fall to make manure for the land. The Pre-Winter to Winter is the time of reflection and to seek within.
A human life is a capture of a single stream of light that shines on Earth from a far-off galaxy. Our journey in actual world time is relatively short. Every generation came with it set of problems that it assumed was unique for that generation.
But there are overall just a few categories of issues in this world, and it is best addressed with a collected and a calm mind. The human’s life and understanding comes from their interpretation of their life experiences. How much we learn or how much we don’t learn is left to interpretational value of the experience.
Rewinding to the Past While Looking Out at the Future
Often, we find ourselves rewinding to our past failures and success or we are busy shoveling the future in a hustle to gain success and avoid failures. Yet in all this the present is completely forgotten. In such a place of unrest sits the human mind grappling with issues that are non-issues if we had an ariel view of the problem. When distanced problems no longer seems like a big and huge problem of our lives.
So, where are we to place the issues of our lives, I would say the present maybe a great place to start reflecting on the best way to solve the problem. But sadly, we don’t have the luxury to think it through. We grapple for solution and hope it works out eventually.
In this way, neither are we happy with the solutions that we arrive at, nor the disappointment when it fails to provide the relief we seek. I see this life of mine as a testing place which allows me to feel using all my five senses.
Elemental Part of the Life
The most significant part of human life is to realize how best to approach issues and how best to solve them. But the fact that we are emotionally invested in life that provides very little space for negotiation. Yet, life moves on with your consent or without your consent. So, I believe that one should just jump in without judging the situation or people involved and remain as a lotus leaf in water.
When one is detached then, we will be able to view what is best for the situation and not what is best for us. I don’t have that aspect with me. I am still learning to separate emotions from what happens to be the main principle guiding my life. Did I sidestep any principles of my life which I truly believe in and wish to follow, that becomes the criterion for whatever decision that I make in life.
Itinerant Storyteller 