The last time I visited Munich (in October 2017), it was autumn. Englischer Garten was beautiful with myriad colours of fall. The little pond in the garden- the one with ducks- looked like a resplendent painting. Leaves rustled under my feet as I walked; their crackling sound a natural stress buster. During the afternoon, the sun shone on this collage of colours, brightening them up further. And when this entire picture was reflected by the small water pond, I could swear that I have never seen a more perfect landscape.

But this time around, with the entire garden snowed down, I witnessed a completely different picture- a monochrome one but definitely equally fascinating. When I was a kid, my art teacher would specifically instruct the class- “Never use the colour white when painting landscapes.” I don’t know where he is now, but if I could locate him, I would share this picture with him: Snow covered tree branches, a half frozen lake and black ducks swimming happily in it. Maybe, he would change his mind!!

The ducks in the pond, however, were oblivious to either weather. Their only focus being “food”, they jumped up to the shore, consistently and irrespective of seasons, quacking loudly and obliging the people who were throwing crumbs at them. I looked at them and thought about how many of us are like these ducks: worried only about material things, so much so that we miss the beauty of nature offers us season after season.

So, which out of these is your favourite season and why?

Pragya