Autumn waltzes in languidly in tropical countries. We often do not see her colors as those residing in colder climes do. We feel her mellow footsteps in the air with the gradual departure of the subcontinental monsoon (the rainy season). Although vestiges of Autumn is completely absent where I live (we are thrown straight into the arms of Winter once Monsoon decides to relinquish her grip on us), still we do herald in her advent with songs and poems and festivals that signify the harvesting season. I briefly witnessed Autumn (or Fall as they call it over there) during my visits to the United States and those moments were extremely memorable when I could witness trees aflame in red, orange and yellow, the ground covered in carpets of brazen leaves and the air holding the scent of an impending Winter.

With the advent of Autumn comes in the flow of ideas or words. It has often happened in my case that new ideas and words tend to flow with the onset of a cooler weather. Tropical summers are not really for me. The writer in me tends to suffer a major setback as the days grow longer and more humid. Cooler days with shorter afternoons and longer evenings with the dusk falling rapidly and the birds returning to their nests tends to make me more tranquil, in fact, more spiritual with my words. This is the season when the words flow from the soul and not merely from the heart. This is the season for the writer in me…for the poet in me…and for the minstrel in me.

Welcome Autumn ! You have much to give and very little to take in return. Welcome, with open arms !