The Spring is late to announce its regal presence

It is time for trees to shed leaves and the migratory birds to spread their wings on their long journey home. The deciduous forests in particular present a vacant look as if life has been taken out of them. However, it is the Spring, the king of seasons on the Bangla calendar here. Isn't it a sharp contrast between the bare and wretched look of Nature and the season of all seasons?

Trees in this part of the world do not become as bare as those in the cold Western countries do. There the Fall, the other name of Autumn, is true to its name. Leaves become crimson to part with their boughs and gather below like a thick carpet of resplendent hues. No, this does not happen here except in 'sal' forests but those leaves are not colourful at all. Elsewhere forests and trees are semi-evergreen or semi-deciduous and therefore the bareness of trees are not conspicuous by the absence of leaves of some trees. Amla tree is one that becomes completely leafless much earlier than sal. This did not escape Rabindranath's probing eyes and he has immortalised the fact by his song, 'Shiter haoar laglo nachon amlokir ei dale dale/ pataguli shir shirie jharie dilo tale tale....'

So, the Spring is yet to be regal. In the second week of Falgun, the first month of the season, there is hardly any trace of the magical touch that brings to life the world of flora that more or less went into a hibernation in the Winter. Only the mango trees are in blossom. But unless the foliage start unfurling on trees in their lively green, Basanta appears to be a misnomer in every sense of the term.

In contrast with the shedding of leaves and the snow-covered bare branches in the West, trees, herbs and shrubs in the tropical regions like Bangladesh never wear such a lifeless and out-of-the-world look. But then the regeneration process of Nature also is slow and the first part of the Spring presents a poor look with the leaves covered with thick layers of dust. Unless or until rains come to their rescue, the trees not adorned with new foliage remain dusky and shorn of liveliness.

More importantly, the harbinger of the Spring or Basanta in the shape of cuckoo is yet to arrive to announce the king of season. Why has it been late in recent years to do its yearly duty? Maybe, the cuckoo which is known as an opportunist ---not only in the sense that it lays egg in the nest of crow --- flies to those regions where the weather is cooler like Bangalore where the bird appears to have made its permanent home.

Without cuckoo, Basanta is incomplete. Also other local birds which become somewhat inactive in the cold months also become hyperactive in making up for the lost time. They try to gain weight and health for the breeding season. The migratory birds also return to their home countries in the coldest part of the world where they will also nest and raise their young ones to complete the life's cycle.

Although the pristine woods in villages have long disappeared, there are still trees, hedges and uninhabited lands with tree covers. The forests in Bangladesh are also getting decimated but the few that still exist actually serve as the lungs of the land. The Spring arrives there with all its glory and much before the rest of the country can feel its royal presence. However by the time it happens, temperature soars higher than was due in the past. After all climate change is taking its toll.

It is not within the power of a small country like Bangladesh to heal this sickness of Nature around us, least of all of the planet. What however can be done under the circumstances is to plant trees on both sides of the country's highways, roads and streets and in any vacant space of homesteads and fallow lands. The trees serve as the natural air cooler and the more their presence is in any given place the cooler the space there is by a degree or two. It is indeed essential to develop a bonhomie, a warm relationship and almost a spiritual communion with Nature in order to receive the best reward from the bond.