Story of the
months – II
The Hindu calendar uses either
the sun or the moon to determine the months, the day each month starts and its
duration. The solar year is divided into 12 lunar months in accordance with the
successive entrances of the sun into the signs of the zodiac, the months varying
in length from 29 to 32 days. Hence it is known as the “lunisolar” calendar.
The zodiac is divided into
twelve, thirty-degree, segments known as zodiac signs: Rashis. In addition to
the twelve signs, the Hindu zodiac is further divided into twenty-seven
nakshatras or lunar mansions. A nakshatra is the number of degrees the moon
travels across the sky in a twenty-four hour period.
The names of the Indian months
correspond to the names of the nakshatras where the full moon – Purnima – always
takes place. Only twelve of the twenty-seven nakshatras have full moons. Thus we
have: ‘Chitra’ Nakshatra – Month ‘Chaitra’ and similarly ‘Vishakha’ – ‘Vaishakh’,
‘Jyeshtha’ – ‘Jyestha’, ‘Purva-ashadha’ – ‘Ashadha’, ‘Shravana’ – ‘Shravan’,
‘Purva-bhadrapada’ – Bhadrapada’, ‘Ashvini’ – ‘Ashvina’, ‘Krittika’ – ‘Kartik’,
‘Ardra’ – ‘Agrahayana’ (also called ‘Margashirsh’), ‘Pushya’ – ‘Pausha’, ‘Magha’
– ‘Magh’ and ‘Uttara-phalguni’ – ‘Phalguna’.
Once every three years, an
extra month is inserted after the month in which there are two new moons.
Moreover, once in a while, there are two months with two new moons. In that year
there are two additional months. These months are known as “Adhik-Mas” and they
take their name from the month, which they precede.
A prize winning book
The Man Booker Prize is awarded
each year to the best full-length novel written in English by a citizen of the
Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. From 1969 until the present day the
prize continues to be the pinnacle of ambition for every fiction writer and is
one of the world’s most prestigious awards. The Booker Prize is sometimes mired
in controversy and garners much attention for reasons with which the prize
committee would be most comfortable.
This year Ms. Kiran Desai, an
Indian, has achieved the honour of winning the prize. Her book is titled: “The
Inheritance of Loss.” Incidentally, she is the youngest woman to win the prize.
Her book was chosen from a short-list of six books. The short-listed books were
chosen from 112 entries. Some news reports highlighted the fact that the author
had spent most of her life in England and after that, till the present she lived
in the US and hence her “Indianness”, other than her origin, was doubtful.
However, with the ‘virtual’ erasing of borders this view appears to be in the
minority. It’s time to rejoice for the young author and a happy reading time for
the readers of fiction.
