Agartala, Nov 17, 2023, By Our Correspondent
It was spitting from Thursday night, and then Friday morning broke with heavy and dark clouds hovering in the sky with angry winds blowing strong and menacing.
For the entire day on Friday, it kept on drizzling, which time and again due to strong winds turned into driving rains, then again softened.
In Tripura, the winter appeared to have arrived cold and wet, thanks to Cyclone Midhili over the Bay of Bengal.
With the downcast sky, the day was gloomy and lazy—somewhat sleepy. The city roads remained largely free of heavy vehicular movements throughout the day, and by the afternoon, they took on an almost deserted look. Many shops had their shutters down, roadside vendors did not turn up, and busy markets were not so busy today.
Reports said the attendance in schools and other institutions was also less than normal.
As the sun set in the west, unseen behind the clouds, the rain-soaked night descended, with citizens hurrying for home to cherish a cup of hot tea or coffee. Since there were time and again power cuts with strong winds breaking tree branches and, at times, snapping up the power wires, the windy darkness with drizzle seemed deep and'suggestive'. In the past, on a similar night, there would have been grandma telling ghost stories to children and mothers preparing khichdi and fish fries in the kitchen for dinner. However, time changed, and there were neither ‘ghosts’ up in the bushy tree in the neighbourhood nor around the dark bend of the deserted road. Now, children would get busy with their mobile games, and sleep also did not come so easily for them.
In the meantime, FL shops did good business, with bottles flying off the racks fast. The snack bars by the roadside also did a brisk business, with cars or bikes stopping for orders and packing up their foods in a hurry. They all wanted to go home as early as possible and enjoy their cold, cold night—rains splashing on the window glasses.
The winter has just arrived—this year, floating on the Cyclone Midhili.
And one AMC employee was heard muttering: Tomorrow morning we will face a difficult task in clearing the city roads—they are littered everywhere with fallen leaves and broken twigs due to heavy winds.