Spring is here

Spring is finally here. In Bangalore, there is after the wintry chill (an anageism* south of the Tropic of Cancer) a season of insipid weather called 'spring'. It is supposedly so like the English spring (their Mad March with unpredicatable rain) that a whole lot of goras settled here, giving this city its very Angrezi feel and English names such as Cox Town. In my good old Mumbai, which is either hot and humid (most of the year), or wet and even more humid (monsoons), there is no such thing as 'spring'.

So 'spring' is here. It is everywhere. All kinds of trees are in bloom, especially the purple-flowered jacaranda. The sunbirds and flowerpeckers are therfore having a field season guzzling nectar. The squirrels are running about. The koels sing, as do other birds. To use a cliché, Love is in the air.

It is no more evident than among NCBS's various species of lizards. The males are all out in the sun, soaking its warmth to gain the strength they need to court their females. They also use its lighting effects to show off their absolutely majestic colour schemes - blazing red and yellow on their dull black skins. Birds have a mating plumage, but I suppose for lizards you'll have to say mating 'scalage' or something. They look absolutely cute.

(Only a biologist will call them cute, but I AM a biologist!)

Even the cobras are taking risks, as one found out to her fatal cost recently. But they have to go out and woo and win mates. Everyone is doing that.

Even me. I realise I'm pushing thirty, and must obey the laws of Nature. I'm runnng two crushes now.

One is for a lady who is a very creative individual, has her own popular blog, and has even written a script for a play. Only she is my senior, and isn't going to take it very nicely.

The other is also my senior. I don't know why I'm interested in her. I just am. I even dared to ask her out, something I have never had the courage to do. And she actually came with me, so I'm feeling like I'm the king of the world. (Remember the atrocious diCaprio and that yell on the ship's stern? Like that.)

They'll die off, sadly. I have a mom who is more precious than all the rest of womankind, whose opinion is law. And there are two very nice ladies who control my fate right now, who have not been very happy with my experiments. So I can't afford any crushes now.

But the lizards have no such problems, and I'm jealous of them. I hope they are happy with whomsoever's favour they manage to win!

*Anageism: A word I invented. I could have used anachronism (Out of time), but it isn't appropriate to geography, so I made up anageism (out of place) from the roots ana-, geo- and -ism.

(Too smart for my pants, ain't I?)