"Seasonal Indianness in Haiku"
"Seasonal Indianness in Haiku"
by Pravat Kumar Padhy
India has a wide spectrum of cultural and social diversity, language and literature. The country embodies the manifestation of a diverse climate culture: snowfall in the north and scorching summer in the south; varying dialects from one state to the other; rich classical culture to contemporary modernity; paintings from rock art to modern portraitures, and so on. It is bestowed with a magnificent landscape: from snow-peaked mountain ranges to the desert, widespread blue glittering seas, hills and enchanting valleys. Generally, the seasons are the same across India, from north to south, with varying intensities: scorching hot in the south during summer and bitter cold in the north during winter. The main Southwest monsoon season is identical across the country. Southeast India witnesses rain for the second time during October-December. The region has a wide variety of festivals, attire, and food habits as if it represents a continent in its whole- ness. These diversities influence art, literature, and their way of living.
Since ancient times, classical verses have explored nature, spiritualism and humanity, all infused with a rich Indian cultural dimension. Many poets portrayed the beauty of nature with a touch of Indianness in the ancient Indian Sanskrit language. Kalidas’s Ritusamhara (Pageant of the Seasons), written in the Sanskrit language, comprises classical poems about seasons in India. It has six cantos for the six seasons: griṣma (summer), varsa/pavas (monsoon/rains), sarat (autumn), hemanta (cool), sisira (winter), and vasanta (spring). . . .
