“The act of naming is the thing that makes the world humane. It gives structure and meaning to natural events that in themselves contain none… In the past two hundred years we have turned winter from something to survive to something to survey, from a thing to be afraid of to a thing to be aware of. It’s through the slow crawl of distinctions, differentiations, and explanations that the world becomes … well, never manageable, but recognizable, this place we know. The conquest of winter, as both a physical fact and an imaginative act, is one of the great chapters in the modern renegotiation of the world’s boundaries, the way we draw lines between what nature is and what we feel about it.”
-Adam Gopnik ‘Winter’
Mango trees take on a discouraging shade of green – something between steel grey and brittle, phthalo green – in the winters. It is hard to see blossoms of possibilities in that shade, when it seems so agreeable with the bleak wintry nonchalance that surrounds it. Yet in the Spring, when the mango blossoms appear like fractals and visions of possibilities play out like animation and the shade of green has taken a rich, vibrant hue doused in the warmth of the sun, one can’t help but recall the bleak wintry nonchalance and gracefully accept that the vibrant warm hue of Spring descends directly from it; how Spring would not make sense, had one not witnessed winter. The courage to witness and narrate is one the most powerful acts of resistance by human beings – it is one of the ways we draw a line between what’s transpiring and how it affects us. It takes a while – like from winter to spring – but we do eventually make the wintry bleakness more humane by naming it, not in aversion but in graceful acceptance of the Quiescence of winter in the Spring.
We are always closer to our experiences than our expectations but in time our experiences change meaning, become more profound – there’s no better allowance and graceful accommodation for such change than to name it. We name our experiences not to solidify our humanity but to realize its fluidity.
Leonard Cohen once said “I wrote 50 versions of the song but I’m still not sure what it’s about.” Then, many years later, after his experience as a Buddhist monk, when asked what he now thought, he replied “I remember sitting in the corner of my kitchen, which has a window overlooking the street. I saw the sunlight that shines on the chrome fenders of the cars, and thought, ‘Gee, that’s pretty’ …That’s the way I should have thought of the song.”
That is exactly the way we feel about the Spring Quiescence. Teasing, vibrant expressions created by the logical mind, now hush and clam the logical mind! No narration would truly convey the feeling. You would barely remember to draw any lines between causation and effect when you find the unmistakable flavor of Mango blossoms and Frangipani, in a brew that vividly reminds of white wine! Made from the same B157 cultivars as the Autumn Caprice, it’s as if the Autumn leaves locked in all the flavors before the winter onslaught and acquired a deeply floral and herby expression to narrate in the Spring. The aroma of Vanilla and honey, the taste of flowers and herbs with reminders of butter and biscuits make up a cornucopia that seems to have discarded urgency in favor of the calm quiescence of expression, absolutely sure of their awakening. They say the universe is ringing with an ‘unstruck’ sound of ‘Anahata’ – those that can hear it call it the sound of silence – grounded, soothing and vibrant. The Quiescence of Spring feels much the same way; spiritual, soothing and vibrant! Although the White Wine reminder might also have something to do with it. Or it might be the floral accrual; everything worth saying can be said better with flowers – even saying nothing can be said better with flowers! The brewed leaves smell distinctly of Camphor and Mango blossoms – the way mango orchards smell when they are in bloom.
We name our experiences not to solidify our humanity but to realize its fluidity – it’s so much easier to see that in the Spring when that certain sweetness of life begins asserting itself.
Brewing instructions: 3Gms at 85-90 degrees Celsius for 4 minutes in 180ml.
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