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RTA-RITU - An Exhibition on Cosmic Order and Cycle of Seasons

RITU CHAKRA...

The sun blazing fiercely, the moon longed for eagerly, deep waters inviting to plunge in continually, days drawing to a close in quiet beauty, the tide of desire running low: scorching Summer is now here, my love

Kalidasa's Ritusambara 1.1

Unlike Spring, which universally evokes a joyous upsurge of emotions and harmones, summer is double-edged. It can nourish. Scorching winds, devastating drought, distressed cattle, human beings unable to cope with the fierceness of the sun- summer brings these association to those of us in hotter climes. But elsewhere in the world, summertime brings the fullness of Spring to its utter perfections, making the air redolent with perfume and sunshine as heavy as honey.

The Islamic calendar being lunar, dates of major Muslim festivals keep varying on the solar calendar now globally in use. Some years it so happens that the auspicious time for pilgrimage to Mecca (Haj) that is, the twelfth Muslim month, falls in the summer. The devout are undaunted from their religious duty by the difficult weather conditions in Arabia -perhaps the spiritual experience of circling the Kabbah or holy shrine at Mecca is intensified by the desert heat.

The threnodies and lamentation of Muharram may also occur during the harsh summer months, when the sun beating down on processions of self-flagellating mourners renders more acute their pain at the injustices of history. But the wounds that time inflicts on a community of believers must necessarily be balanced by moments of goodwill and happiness. One such occasion, is Id-ul-Zuha, when wealthy Muslims perform a ritual of goat-sacrifice. As the meat is an offering distributed as charitas to the poor, the festival facilitates amicable interacti6n between the social-classes. The month of fasting, or Ramadan, can be fairly taxing should it happen to fall in the hot season, which makes Id-ul-Fitr (the Feast of Fast Breaking) the most eagerly awaited celebration among Muslims.

In England and Europe, the summer in pre-modern times would begin with ribbons streaming about a May-pole, releasing the nascent colors of the spring into a new completeness. For the Mediterranean lands, summer, culturally, continues to signify savouring the soft sun and sipping wine, a time of replenishing the spirit with enough warmth to last through a mostly chilly year.

All peoples on our simmering sub-continent cope with the soaring temperatures in a variety of creative and ecofriendly ways: buttermilk (lassi) cooled in earthen pots, refreshing herbal and mango drinks, fragrant shrubs that flower in the evenings, water sprinkled on courtyards inside homes to keep the floor soothing to bare feet, crisp white cotton clothes that reflect away the sun’s rays and absorb body-sweat.

In this summer month which blasts all hope, burns the vines, is angry at the deer, is tree-wilting, bee-distressing, jasmine-hating, dries up lakes, heats dust and fries the sky; in this month that glows with cruel rays, how can how, traveler, walk and live?

Bana

The woods decay, the woods decay and fall, The vapours weep their burthen to the ground, Man comes and tills the field and lies beneath And after many a summer dies the swan.

Tennyson, "Tithonus"

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