Kumartuli or Kumortuli is located in the northern part of the city of Kolkata . The locality is a traditional habitat of the potters for nearly three hundred years. The potters or the artisans or the artists settled here during the restructuring of the Kolkata colonial region by the British East India Company . Earning a livelihood by making earthen pots and utensils first they gradually shifted to the making of the idols of Gods and Goddesses for various festivals round the year. With increasing demand and quality of their creations over time the artisans became famous and Kumartuli came to be known as the hub of idol makers supplying thousands of idols, particularly of Goddess Durga , to whole of the state of West Bengal and to NRIs of around 90 countries across the globe. At least three months before Durga Puja , the biggest festival of West Bengal and one of the biggest across Eastern India, more than five hundred workshops come alive with hyper activity day and night. Fir...
Mumbai shivered on Monday yesterday and its genuine winter after 2008 is continuing. The mercury had reached 11 degree Celsius yesterday—at least 4-5 degrees below normal—and the met office forecasts further decline in temperatures. In the coldest city of Maharashtra, Nashik, the mercury went down below five degrees. With the sun coming out strong cold breeze at daytime gets neutralized and you feel comfortable with your normal attire. But if you go out late in the night you feel the biting cold and you wake up to chilly mornings. For a change Mumbai nights are being decorated with bonfires with the most vulnerable people like watchmen, guards and night-duty staff enjoying the warmth.
Mumbai gets such an occasional winter thanks to severe cold wave conditions in North India. From mid-December, 2011 till now acute cold wave conditions have been gripping and sweeping across the region. For the past five days it has been snowing in Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh—the northernmost states. There is no respite expected al least for the next few days. Most Mumbaikars (inhabitants of Mumbai) are not used to winters and woollens. So they are in a sort of a dilemma the moment a rare winter hits them. They feel the pinch while going out in the mornings or returning at night, but as the day progresses things get back to near normal. So, if you decide to wear warm cloths you start sweating at noon and if you don’t then you shiver in the odd hours. You face the dilemma at home too. Going to bed with the thick blanket is fraught with grave dangers though you crave for its warmth, because very soon you feel like throwing it off. Wise people keep the ceiling fans on and balance it out cozily under the blanket. In this uncertain process of adjusting to winter many catch a sore throat or a fever or an infection keeping the doctors busy.
But some others are excitedly digging out their sweaters, jackets, overcoats, mufflers and so on from their closets and are having a great time. There is no reason why you should not enjoy. You get it only once in a while. It’s set to dip below 10! You are set to have the most biting winter in decades! Enjoy!
I think that temperature variations between warm and cold are certainly harder to deal with than just cold weather. The snow picture is quite pretty though.
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