Winter is upon us. Us means all people who live in plains and mountains in this country; even those who live on the sea coast. For they too embrace winter or whatever little they get of it.

So what do we make of this season?

It turns out there is a strong love and hate sentiment about winters. There are people in the plains who get long seary spells of summer and yet end up not liking winter. Is it for its gloominess associated with long nights, even longer evenings? Or for the shortened days that lead to a certain aura of despondency?

It is not without reason that winter is associated with death that leads to rebirth in the spring and so the life cycle moves on.

But then people love it equally for what it has to offer: the delicacies, the dry fruits, the warmth of the razai, the get togethers and Kashmiri chai. Amid these contrasting realities, many have fond even warm memories; others, however, are only reminded of their past aches and pains.

Winter and melancholy mix rather easily. The thick fog can be a metaphor for both a dreamy future and an uncertain present. While the season lasts, it slows people down by its sheer harshness, pushing them to take a step back, think about their lives away from the din and noise, and move on bit by bit. It offers generous bouts of time during the long nights to open a book and absorb in the eerie silence. Sometimes the snow-flakes make up for all the sorrows and lift their spirits.

Also read: Winter on my mind

While another winter season slips away, like sand from the palm, it’s a reminder that summer is not far behind, that it is all a short-term transition -- from winters to summers, with autumn and spring falling in between, to winters again. This Special Report is all about capturing these varied moods of winter.