Many years ago I acted in a play called Spring Awakening. Which happens to be running on Broadway, 2 blocks from where my friends Subbu and Aparna live. Since this was so long ago, there isn’t too much I remember about the play except that we performed at Kala Mandir Basement in Calcutta during a time when English theatre was very popular with the student population and the burra saab snooty families of the city. I also remember some of the other cast members, the only claim to fame being Smita Tharoor, sister of author Shashi Tharoor and winner of the Miss Calcutta beauty pageant. In addition I remember having a crush on this other girl, whose initials are VS and who sadly didn’t feel the same way about me. Instead there was this third girl (whose name I can’t for the life of me remember) who felt the way I wanted VS to feel. And since I don’t even remember her initials, I’m sure you can understand the impact she made on me.
However, I digress here. Because this piece isn’t about the play. Or about the people that were a part of the play. I just happened to think of it since I’m so eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring.
For the folks that have been living in New York for a while, this has been a mild winter. We had only a few really arctic days and just one snowfall where the white stuff stuck on the ground for a couple of days. It’s not even the cold that has bothered me as much as it’s been the gloom. Cloudy, rainy, dark, gloomy days. How many of those can one take without feeling low? Coupled with flight cancellations, having to walk to places, not being able to find a cab, wind chill, it can become a real downer.
Hopefully the worst is behind us. Although one can never predict anything with the weather system anymore. Nothing is a surprise, what with tornados in December, snow in April, hot and humid conditions in October, who knows what’s really coming next.
And what’s with the spring collection in stores in January during sub-zero temperatures? I lost my really cool pair of ear muffs but I couldn’t find another pair for the life of me because stores were selling sunglasses and tank tops. Why would I want to walk into a store and try on a pair of shorts and a polo shirt and spend 10 minutes taking off all my layers and putting them back on again? I really DO have a life!
With what you’ve read so far, I’m sure you would never think that I’m just not a cold weather person! However it really is true. I admit that I don’t like winters (gasp). The cold makes me want to stay home instead of going out. It makes me want soup instead of sushi. It makes my teeth chatter when I’m outside and a few minutes later break into a sweat in the subway station. It brings rich Europeans to New York City at Christmas time who stand in line outside Tiffany’s and Saks Fifth Avenue like they’re a Walmart selling discounted junk.
But most of all I love spring because it means green trees instead of brown, it means more of the sun and less of the clouds, it means longer days, bigger smiles, more people on the streets, fewer clothes and not to forget a spring in my step! Bring it on baby!!
