As winter sets in and grips the valley of Kashmir, problems of all sorts appear one after the other, be it tumbling kangris (traditional firepots), more frequent power cuts, crippled transport or slippery paths. But this is only a glimpse of what a real winter is, as someone from Siberia would argue. In case you thought we were the worst hit by this intriguing season, think again. Actually, let me excuse you the trouble to "think again" and instead, let's take a ride through the spine-chilling, challenging and amazing winters of some unseen lands.

Wake up on a chilly winter morning in your hotel room in Alaska, hold the pleasantly warm coffee mug, look around and you can't help taking a start. No, you aren't dreaming it: there is no morning. The nights have lengthened at the outset of fall and all you can feel is this silent darkness. The sun has disappeared for weeks together as you may be informed by the natives here. This, emotionally will be trying you the most over your vacation and you'll most likely be hitting one or the other form of Seasonal Associative Disorder (SAD) that is a result of inadequate sunlight which causes some sort of an imbalance in the levels of various hormones and makes you one of those depressing types. Nevertheless, you can always afford the "sun lamps" to keep out all the negative thoughts. These are the ultimate "happy lights" in this region that simulate sunlight and sitting twice a day in front of them can really uplift you emotionally. Chuck your collection of sad songs and movies to keep yourself from plunging into all the negative thoughts amidst this unending darkness. But unless you're unlucky enough to be north of Fairbanks, you get at least 45 minutes of dawn/dusk like light every day. Get out for it and feel the precious light. Besides you'd always want to be in a good chirpy company and actually need to tell yourself that the spring eventually does come. More than anything else, you need the mental preparedness to endure the dark winters in Alaska, just when you thought fighting winters was all about keeping out the cold.

Not very far away are the Canadian winters. Canada won't cease to fascinate you with its countless winter sports and adventures. Talking of adventures, sitting behind the wheel, watching the wipers clear the snowflakes off the windshield and driving lazily to work over a Canadian freeway on an ordinary gray winter morning is a routine one. It doesn't start without giving you a thumping heart beat after an hour spent over shoveling the frozen ice and snow off your car. Take care not to dig too hard into it; you may scrape off the paint as well.  But most of us, who aren't big fans of warm-ups, would only wipe the windshield and set off without removing the snow and ice from over the roof of the vehicle. En route, when the interior warms up, the ice and snow on the roof dislodges and at a high speed, launches itself out like a frozen Frisbee at vehicles in the vicinity. A frozen projectile at speed can and has caused serious crashes. The least a safe journey demands is that you "keep safe distance" from the other vehicles especially huge trucks and massive vehicles that can randomly launch very large sheets of ice from great heights onto the lustrous Canadian roadway, unless you want to experience a life staking adventure in reflexive driving.

Northeast of Canada lies the largest island of the world-Greenland that happens to be the coldest place in the western hemisphere. A centrally located research station here, recorded a temperature of -66 degree Celsius one January day. At a temperature so low, besides lots of other things, do not try licking your lips outdoors. Plus, earrings aren't really "in" this season when you are in Greenland. Hard metals get very cold, very fast at a temperature so low. On your expedition, out in the vast stretches of uninhabited snow clad plains here, voices of people could be heard 4 miles away and frozen breath hangs in the air for around 15 minutes making it easier for you to keep a track of your companions.

Closer to home in the east, Yakutsk in Russia claims to be the coldest city on earth with a population of 200,000 people. It is the capital of Yakutia region of Siberia. The average temperature in January is said to be around -50 degree Celsius. If you somehow happen to drive into this city, make sure you leave the engine of your car running all day long or you aren't going back home that evening. Besides you're warned not to wear glasses outdoors as they will freeze to your face and tear the flesh off your cheeks when you try to remove them! No wonder Siberia serves for the most fearsome exile. As for the empty plastic bags, don't use them to carry the grocery here for they'll soon freeze and snap like glass. Verkhoyansk is another chilly city in Siberia-an eight day drive from Yakutsk. Ironically, you can only drive there in the winter over the frozen lakes because there are no roads to Verkhoyansk! However, even in more inhabited areas of Russia, there isn't any let up in the hardships that you confront in winters. As a student in a random Moscow college, you'll have to pull yourself up and rise far earlier than the sun itself. It's only after you attend a couple of dizzy lectures that the morning dawns at you. Later, the way back home is equally dark.  

At places that get comparatively milder winters, this time around, they didn't come with any concessions. The hi-tech machinery and engineering hardly had an answer to the nature's wrath when it thunder-snowed over Europe forcing a shut-down of airports, grounding flights and disrupting road traffic big time. There actually was a warning of a backlog of around 4 million parcels this Christmas! Parts of northeast America had pretty much the same fate this winter.

Landing back home in Kashmir, the snowfall has just begun. As the tree tops kiss the earth, it's just about time we turn grateful and stop grumbling over the wet trouser ends and muddy stamps of childrens' shoes. Winters after all aren't that bad here.