AUTUMN, one of the four temperate seasons, marks the transition from summer into winter, usually in late September (northern hem-isphere) or late March (southern hemisphere) when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier. Autumn begins with a subtle change in the light, with skies a deeper blue, and nights that become suddenly clear and chilled. The season comes full with the first frost, the disappearance of migrant birds, and the harvesting of the season's last crops.

The word autumn comes from the old French word autompne (automne in modern French), and was later normalized to the original Latin word autumnus. The alternative word fall is also used to denote the season, which is a contraction of Middle English expressions like ‘fall of the leaf’ and ‘fall of the year’.

Autumn is a season followed immediately by looking forward to spring. It is mature, reasonable and serious; it glows moderately and makes us reasonable. In Western cultures, personifications of autumn are usually pretty, well-fed females adorned with fruits, vegetables and grains and wheat that ripen at this time. The predominant mood of the autumnal celebrations is a gladness for the fruits of the earth. As poet John Keats says in his famous work ‘In Autumn’: “Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness/Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun/.../And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core/To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells/...”

Most ancient cultures featured autumnal celebrations of the harvest. Still extant echoes of these celebrations are found in the mid-autumn Thanksgiving holiday of the United States and China. “Give me the end of the year an' its fun/When most of the plannin' an' toilin' is done/Bring all the wanderers home to the nest/Let me sit down with the ones I love best/Hear the old voices still ringin' with song/See the old faces unblemished by wrong/See the old table with all of its chairs/An' I'll put soul in my Thanksgivin' prayers.” — Edgar A Guest, ‘Thanksgiving’. And Albert Camus rightly said, “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees ‘know’ to begin getting ready for winter. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyl disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colours. Small amounts of these colours have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyl.

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red colour. The brown colour of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colours we enjoy in the fall. “How silently they tumble down/And come to rest upon the ground/To lay a carpet, rich and rare/Beneath the trees without a care/Content to sleep, their work well done/Colors gleaming in the sun.” — from ‘Leaves’.

The children also enjoy the colours of autumn leaves. They wonder how and why a fall leaf changes colour. Why a maple leaf turns bright red? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? “Spades take up leaves/No better than spoons/And bags full of leaves/Are light as balloons/.../I make a great noise/Of rustling all day/Like rabbit and deer/Running away/.../But the mountains I raise/Elude my embrace/Flowing over my arms/And into my face/.../I may load and unload/Again and again/Till I fill the whole shed/And what have I then?/.../Next to nothing for weight/And since they grew duller/From contact with earth/Next to nothing for colour/Next to nothing for use/But a crop is a crop/And who's to say where/The harvest shall stop?” — ‘Gathering Leaves’ by Robert Frost. The different colours of the leaves inspire the children to go for colouring an autumn leaf, autumn tree, corn cobs, etc.

Autumn is when the rain is gone and the winter is on its way and it is one of the most ideal seasons to visit India, as the climate is neither too hot nor too cold. This is the right time for the wildlife enthusiasts too. India is the most ideal location for the tourists thanks to its cultural heritage and wildlife. The most spectacular is its flora and fauna spread across wildlife sites like Bandhavgarh National Park and Kanha National Park (Madhya Pradesh), Corbett National Park (Uttaranchal), Sundarbans National Park (West Bengal), Gir National Park (Gujarat), Kaziranga National Park (Assam), Periyar National Park (Kerala), Bandipur National Park (Karnataka), etc.

After finishing the wildlife trip, one can go to other parts of India to enjoy and be amused by different types of attractions, especially the festivals of India. When the autumn comes the festivals are not far behind. Yes, this is the season of festivals in India. The entire atmosphere bounces with fun and festivals.

The preparations for the Durga Puja reach the final stage from the day of Mahalaya. Mahalaya is observed seven days before the Durga Puja. It's a kind of invocation or invitation to the mother goddess to descend on earth. This is done through the chanting of mantras and singing devotional songs. The day of Mahalaya is also the day of remembrance. On this day, people offer tarpan in memory of their forefathers. The rituals start from early dawn and end during the midday.

Durga Puja is widely celebrated in West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Tripura where it is a five-day annual holiday. It is the biggest Hindu festival celebrated throughout the eastern India. Durga Puja includes the worship of Shiva, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Saraswati and Kartikeya also. Modern traditions have come to include the display of decorated pandals and artistically depicted idols of Durga, exchange of Bijoya Greetings and publication of Puja annuals.

According to historian late Benudhar Sarma, the present form of worship of Durga with earthen idol in Assam was started during the reign of Ahom King Susenghphaa or Pratap Singha. The King organized the first such Durga Puja celebration in Bhatiapara near Sivasagar. This was the first time Durga Puja with earthen idols in Assam was held for the masses, in addition to the worship in Durga temples like Kamakhya, Dirgheswari Temple, Maha Bhairabi Temple, Ugratara, Tamreswari Mandir, etc. Subsequently, similar pujas were organized by other kings and nobles. Nowadays the Durga Puja is mostly a community festival celebrated in the cities, towns, villages of Assam with great festivity and religious fervour.

Dussehra symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. The festival lasts for ten days and nights, the first nine nights being the Navaratri with three days each devoted to worship of Durga, the goddess of valour, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge. The festival of Navratri culminates in Mahanavami. On this day Kanya Puja is performed. The festival of Dassehra, also known as Vijayadashmi, is celebrated with joy and enthusiasm in north India also. In villages, paper effigies of Ravana, Meghnath and Kumbhakarna, stuffed with fire crackers are set alight. According to the Ramayana, Lord Rama performed chandi-puja, in order to invoke the blessings of Durga for the killing of Ravana, who had abducted Sita.

Dassera day is considered an auspicious day. It is a time-honoured belief that if any new venture is started on this day, it is bound to be successful. Hence, all the undertakings, be it laying in of foundation of a new building, opening of a new commercial establishment or even initiating a child into the world of learning are started on this day.

Another autumn festival is Diwali or Deepavali — deepa meaning light and avali meaning a row. It means a row of lights and indeed, illumination forms the main attraction of Diwali. Every home — lowly or mightly, the hut of the poor or the mansion of the rich — is lit with the orange glow of twinkling diyas — small earthen lamps — to welcome Lakshmi. Multi-coloured rangoli designs, floral decorations and fireworks lend picturesness and grandeur to this festival which heralds joy, mirth and happiness in the ensuring year.

The blood red baubles hanging from every bush lighten our lives throughout the autumn season. The autumn cloaks of gold and red delicately adorn the mourning trees, statues of sad beauty. The wind blows its own freshness into us. The misty mornings veil all in a hovering cloud, obscuring beauteous nature until the sun's shining presence can applaud and enhance it. The evening horizon seeks to rival the glowing sun framing the golden trees, both bright and dark, silhouetted against the fire and light.

George Eliot had rightly said, “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”

Gyanendra Shravan