Chaste as the icicle That's curdied by the frost from purest snow....

Hiatus [hahy-ey-tuhs] is a break or interruption in the continuity of a work. Sometimes, it's a natural fissure, other times, a missing part, or lacuna; but if viewed sympathetically, wholly necessary at all times! I've been away too long from Gallimaufry, because I have been away from Shimla, from writing and from photography. But hopefully, with the blessings of the Higher Spirit, the Pledeian High Council or whoever it is that controls thoughts and actions of mere mortals, one shall be back in the creative groove with renewed vigour...

January was a cold month for us. But the cold, which preceded and followed the two snowfalls was wholly welcome. Snowfall in Shimla, as elsewhere, is an event much recorded and celebrated. However, another interesting phenomenon unfolds gently and quietly on the sidelines. And that is the formation of icicles. An icicle is a spike of ice formed when dripping water freezes mid-air. Icicles typically form when snow melts in the sunshine and the melted water runs off into an area where the temperature is below 0°C, which causes water to freeze again! The continuous run-off of water helps form icicles. 

As a child, I had seen icicles in Srinagar, Kashmir and so I was struck with wonder to see lovely cold tassels decorating the eaves of my roof.  They looked like a row of daggers pointed downward, their pointy edges thrown in sharp relief against a cobalt blue sky. 

I'm reminded of some lines by Shelley: 

Oh! take the pure gem to where southerly breezes,

Waft repose to some bosom as faithful as fair,

In which the warm current of love never freezes,

As it rises unmingled with selfishness there,

Which, untainted by pride, unpolluted by care,

Might dissolve the dim icedrop, might bid it arise,

Too pure for these regions, to gleam in the skies