The first wisp of winter is heavenly. It’s the same as having the first fruits of the season. You know when you’re having the first mango of summers and your tastebuds are tantalised by the flavour that you had craved the entire year; or, that first lychee which, upon a bite, bursts its juices inside your mouth.

What’s mesmerising about these experiences is that no matter how many years go by, these experiences always feel like you’re having them for the first time. The same is true of the first touch of winter.

Today, as I woke up early in the morning and rushed to offer my prayers, I felt that the air was different. You can feel the winter morning in your lungs and then in everything around you. Most people, including myself, associate the coming of winter with the day you take the sweaters out of your storage trunks. But this air that hits your nostrils with a different scent is nature’s way of telling you that winters are here.

In this coming of winters, there’s a gush of emotions that comes along. It’s kind of bittersweet, to be honest. For me, it’s like listening to Vital Signs’s Tum Mil Gaye, to be honest. Play that song right after, and you’ll know what I mean.

For those who enjoy the Western tracks better, I’d recommend listening to Take On Me (acoustic version) by A-ha. Such winter-esque songs these are.

The coming of winter is the coming of nostalgia. It’s going to be winter again, and who knows what warm fuzzy memories it may bring along with it. So, I’m excited for it to turn my present into fond memories for the future.

Why bittersweet? Well, the association of scent is with memories too. You know, when you meet someone who’s wearing the same cologne as your grandfather once did, you automatically grow fonder of that person. Or, when your dad or mom uses a perfume that they have been loyal to for decades, you are taken back to your childhood. And, that’s what we all are trying to achieve, aren’t we — that feeling of happiness and belonging that we got in our childhood?

Under the veil of winter lie distinct memories of bygone lovers and relationships, singing a lullaby of nostalgia; memories of hugs; and those cozy mornings mimic the warm fuzzy feeling you get in your heart.

There’s just so much to feel as if each recollection were a brushstroke painting the canvas of my soul with the colours of nostalgia. It’s hard taking all that back into your head and heart. You yearn for the same feeling, knowing that you’ve loved and lost. It’s also sweet, of course, to have felt what you felt once and those memories where you see yourself as the happiest at that point in time.

The coming of winter is the coming of nostalgia. Mental reels of happiness that run in your head. And you know what I just realised? It’s going to be winter again, and who knows what warm fuzzy memories it may bring along with it. So, I’m excited for it to turn my present into fond memories for the future.

The writer is an ex-serviceman and a freelancer. He can be reached at shaafayzia@gmail.com