Baba Umar
As a 2008 starter, the weather Gods finally sent down the much needed white gold (Snow). However, it was only after several years that valley received snowfall in ‘Chillai Kalan’-- the 40-day long phase when the probability of snowfall is highest and recurrent as well. The last couple of years saw snowfall only after the Chillai Kalan and somewhere around the onset of spring season. Director, Meteorological Department, T S Zutshi, calls the early snowing ‘a miracle of God’. “We didn’t see this thing happening during past several years.” He says it had snowed heavily in the past, but that was not a timely snow.
Zarief Ahmad Zarief, 64, a Kashmiri poet, says the snow has brought smile on the every face. “People like me keep on waiting for this blessing,” he says. “Now we can expect a good summer with a plenty of water and greenery.” Zarief recalls the time when people would stock oil, rice, salt, and other necessary household items before the onset of winters.“The snow level used to reach our first floor,” he recollects. “Even walnut shells, cow dung, twigs and plant shoots were maintained and used in the winters.” When he was a kid, he says, the winters were harsh and equally bone chilling. “But we used to enjoy those days. We would make snow man, snow dogs and several other figures, that would later freeze rock solid.”
He says present generation lacks those creative things.“First it hardly snows now and if it does, it is untimely, says Zarief. “Today kids remain glued to the video games and satellite channels. They lack the real fun of snow.”Chillai kalan used to be a treasure for Kashmiri literature and folk. Even the snow clad trees, heavy snowfall and chill of this period would provide content for many folk songs and poems. “Now it’s all over. Our jungles are being plundered; there is no eye on the looters, the Dal is drying up and the air is being polluted, I guess the time is coming when we have to create artificial rain and snow,” he laments.
He says present generation lacks those creative things.“First it hardly snows now and if it does, it is untimely, says Zarief. “Today kids remain glued to the video games and satellite channels. They lack the real fun of snow.”Chillai kalan used to be a treasure for Kashmiri literature and folk. Even the snow clad trees, heavy snowfall and chill of this period would provide content for many folk songs and poems. “Now it’s all over. Our jungles are being plundered; there is no eye on the looters, the Dal is drying up and the air is being polluted, I guess the time is coming when we have to create artificial rain and snow,” he laments.
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