Kashmir famous for its beauty and chill of the winters has embraced the chillai kalaan from today. Chillai kallan considered as the coldest period of the season in which the mercury falls to its extreme in the valley and the chill wave hardly allows one to leave his home away. This season begins from December 21 and lasts for 40 days till January ends.The harshness of this period is such that people brace up in advance to brave the
chill. Before the onset of this period people arrange warm clothes, blankets and other accessories necessary for facing this harsh period. For the average citizen ‘kangri’ still remains the best option to warm the body while as affluent ones make use of electric heaters, blankets, gas and coal bukharis. In the morning hours, shopkeepers in the urban centers would be seen burning papers and dry leaves to beat the chill. Around the fire, a circle made by a group of shopkeepers and a few passer-by would be seen at multiple places in the morning hours where they not only warm themselves.
This is the season which hardly allows a person to travel out the valley by road as Jammu highway in this season only road link to the outside world due to heavy snowfall results in instantaneous shortage of gas, edibles and essentials. It is because of this that many households keep stocks of dried vegetables, pulses and rations handy. With the onset of this unscheduled and extended power cuts have started adding to the miseries of people across he valley. Where the period is considered harsh as chances of getting cold and other infections multiply in this season, their people also enjoy it in different ways. People love to cherish Harisa, a winter delicacy savored mostly during the winter.
It is prepared by cooking fresh, minced mutton with rice, salt and spices in a huge clay vessel over simmering fire during the entire night. In addition to this people love to eat dry fruits, peanuts and Gajrela, recipe made of carrots. Tomatoes, brinjals, pumpkins, spinach and turnips are dried and stored to be used during the period. Sharing his memories associated with this season one among the old citizens of the vally Abdul Aziz Humzah said that: “In my childhood, life would literally come to a halt in the Valley during this period as There were very a few means of transport those days and the road connectivity was also not good. The snow used to fall for long hours continued to days and weeks but now a days thimg has changed now the less count of trees in woods and weather disturbances harldy allow snow fall in kasmir and even ther will be snoe fall it hardly lasts for a couple of days.Meanwhile weatherman has predicted further dip in mercury in the coming days