# Three Seasons

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2016/03/24/three-seasons/
- Published: 2016-03-24T03:53:09+00:00
- Author: shuktara

4.6/5 - (10 votes)

**Author:** Latha Anantharaman[⌊WP_20160309_13_13_11_Pro⌉](https://writersworkshopindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/WP_20160309_13_13_11_Pro.jpg)
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Pages:** 128 **Year of Publication:** 2015 **Price:** Rs 250 **ISBN:** 978-93-5045-
109-0 (9789350451090)

_**About the Author**_
 Latha Anantharaman is a writer, editor, translator and perpetual
student of literature. Her articles, essays and book reviews have appeared in _The
Hindu_ (where for four years she wrote a fortnightly column on books and reading),
_The Sunday Herald, The Indian Review of Books, Business Standard_ (which brought
out her series on crime fiction) and many other publications. Her articles on travel
have appeared in _Outlook Traveller_ magazine. She is the author of _Tamil Nadu_,
published by Roli Books. Her writing on rural life began with a column called “The
Village Diary”, which was carried in _Live Mint_ and then continued in _Business
Line_.

_**About the Book**_

In her prologue to the book, Latha Anantharaman writes:

“Nearly nine years ago, my husband and I built a house on a parcel of land in Akathethara
Panchayat, which is on the other side of the tracks from Palakkad town. Palakkad
itself, though a district capital, is a small town that shuts down at 7.30 p.m.

Friends and relatives have often asked why Saar and I, both born and raised in cities
and suburbs, left our familiar territories to settle here. We answer vaguely about
peace and quiet and being able to write. For several years, as we planned the shift,
I imagined myself writing, reading, editing, quilting and sometimes puttering around
in the garden. I suppose we were as naive as young couples who expect to fit a baby,
or even a fish tank, smoothly into their professional routines, and as laughable
as those who expect it to get easier as they go.

We were partly prepared by years of reading about water conservation, rain-fed cultivation,
integrated pest management, fragile slopes, microclimates, and the eternal mysteries
of soil. But the difference between reading all that and living it is the difference
between reading the parts for every instrument in an orchestra and hearing the symphony.

The land took over our lives. We can’t always explain that to our visitors and friends,
and sometimes I have trouble explaining to myself what I’m doing here. I probably
would not have made time to write about it if an old friend and editor hadn’t demanded
a column from me a few years ago. The only subject I could focus on, I told her,
was rural living. “The Village Diary” column ran for twenty-five instalments, in
two different newspapers. By the time I wound it up, I realized how rapidly my environment
was changing, and I wanted to continue to document this way of life.

Here is a patchy record of a year in a small panchayat in Kerala. In this region
we mark three seasons in a year: the windy, the hot and the rainy. I wrote this 
record for myself and for any reader who may wonder what would happen if she were
to move from the city to the hinterlands. Would she luxuriate in the glories of 
nature while mourning its fragility? Would she find she had made a mistake that 
cast a long shadow over her future? Or would she, like an amphibian, live matter-
of-factly in another medium for the second half of her life and forget the one in
which she began?

The following account is not fiction. However, I have changed some names to preserve
the privacy of our neighbours and to protect scoundrels.”