The Indian spring!

Come March and it is officially the end of winter. Come March and it’s time for a sneak preview of this year’s summer! Come March and work gets hectic for the accountants towards the closing of the financial year.   Come March and it is officially the exam season, at least here in Bangalore. So much so that this time every year, my mind races back to the time of my exams (the last one being almost a decade ago!), like a pavlovian response to this weather! Abhay too has his quarterly assessment next week, but I guess he still has a couple or more years to go before the real exam fever sets in…..until then I can still breathe easy in March! For those of you who are already there …..All the best as parents need it more than the kids!

For parents of young children who are yet to feel the pressure of exams, here’s a look at some of the pleasant things around this time of the year. “Everything looks new” by Mala Kumar, Manisha Chaudhry and Priya Kuriyan, a Level 2 Early reader by Pratham publications and a part of the Rituchakra series on seasons, is a nice little book on spring. A  little girl named Meenu (who is the same girl in all the books in this series!) is excited to welcome Vasanth Panchami, which is supposed to be the first day of spring, called Vasanth Ritu in Sanskrit, a season between winter and summer. She notices the changes around her - new leaves growing on trees, flowers blossoming in the garden, birds and squirrels chirping around making the surroundings beautiful and pretty. Meenu's grandpa plans to a tree as spring is a good season to start something new.  Spring is also the time to celebrate Holi, the festival of colours. But the best thing about spring, according to Meenu is that spring is not cold, not hot and not wet and that she can play all the time! Enjoy this year’s spring, everyone (after your exams of course!).