haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering! 7th June 2025

haikaiTALKS: Seasonal Words | a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

A Disclaimer

Responsibility for the originality of the haikai rests solely with the submitting poet. 

Should anyone feel it is similar to another haikai, they are encouraged to directly reach out to the concerned poet.

Triveni Haikai India will take action, if any, on the recommendation of the submitting poet.

***

host: Srinivasa Sambangi

7th June 2025

haikaiTALKS: a saturday gathering under the banyan tree

Your host for haikaiTALKS: Srinivas Sambangi

haikaiTALKS 7th June 2025

INDIAN SAIJIKI

For the next few weeks we will focus on haiku based on Indian seasonal words. We often refer to World Kigo Data (WKD) base for the seasonal words. There is a special section in WKD website on Indian Saijiki which was mostly contributed by Kala Ramesh. While the focus is on picking typical Indian seasonal words, I will choose three words every week which are not unknown to the rest of the world as prompts. Poets outside India my use their own kigo similar to what is discussed to write and post this week.

Unlike many other countries, according to the classical text of Ritusamharam, India has six seasons, each season comprising two months.

Spring - called Vasant（Basant) - in the months of Chaitra and Vaishakh

approximately March and April

Summer – called Grishma –in the months of Jaishthya and Aashadh

approximately May and June

Rains – called Varsha - in the months of Shravan and Bhadrapad

approximately July and August

Autumn called Sharad - in the months of Aashwin and Kartik

approximately September and October

Frost – called Hemant – in the months of Margshishya and Pousha

approximately November and December

Winter - called Shishir - in the months of Magh and Phalgun

approximately January and February.

The rainy season (Varsha ritu) in India starts in July and ends in August with some spill over on either side. Pre-monsoon showers already greeted many parts of the country. The schools and colleges reopen this month in many states. We will explore the kigo of a mix of summer and rainy season this week.

Kigo chosen for this week are:

1.Shadow/shade/heat/heat wave/agni karthari/umbrella

Temperatures soar very high in many parts of India during peak summer. In some parts they reach and even cross 50deg C. In Agni Karthari period which lasts for about two weeks in the middle of May, very high temperatures and heat waves are quite common in most parts of India. As per Hindu astrology Agni Karthari is not an auspicious period for many events/rituals.

Though shadow/shade is a word used in almost all the seasons, it is more appropriate for summer. Umbrella is used in both summer and rainy season to protect from heat and rain

roasting sun

the egret's measured steps

in buffalo shadow

--Adjie Agyei – Baah*, The Heron’s Nest Award/Editor’s Choice

The Heron’s Nest Vol, XVIII, March 2016

(*Remembering a great friend who met with an untimely death)

monsoon rain—

social distancing the width

of an umbrella

-- Srinivasa Rao Sambangi, World Haiku Review, 2021

2. School uniform/first day at school

Schools and colleges reopen in most parts of India in the month of June. School uniforms in India can vary widely, with some schools requiring specific attire for both girls and boys while others may have flexible dress codes. After a long vacation, the children enjoy meeting their friends in the school in the new attire. The overall goal of school uniforms in India is to promote a sense of equality and unity among students, regardless of their background and social status. For some kids, it’s their first day at school and for some grown up children too, it’s the first day as they change schools

first day ─

school bus empties

of new shoes

--Roberta Beach Jacobson, Haiku Dialogue, March 18, 2020

schoolyard

rippling like the sea ─

blue uniform

-- Milan Stancic Kimi, Haiku Dialogue, March 18, 2020

first day to school

the trail of my footprints

with my sister

-- Chittaluri Satyanarayana, Haiku Dialogue, January 4, 2023

first day of school

a new friend breaks

my shell

-- Ravi Kiran, Haiku Dialogue, January 4, 2023

3.Rice seedling/rice plantation

India is the second largest producer and the largest exporter of rice in the world. While the crop is grown multiple times in some parts of the country, the main period of rice crop is called kharif season. The rice seedlings are usually planted in June/July for Kharif season and the crop gets ready for harvesting by winter. Rice seedlings are young rice plants grown from seeds in a nursery bed before being transplanted into the main field. After seedlings are planted in the main field, lot of care is taken by the farmer ensuring the supply of adequate water and pesticides. Direct seedling also is practiced by some farmers where the seeds are sown in the main field. Though rice plantation process is mostly mechanised now, people of older generation still remember the way village women and men involve in the plantation process. This activity is celebrated as a ritual in many parts of the country.

For rice-planting women

there's nothing left unsoiled

but their song

--Konishi Raizan

the beginning of all art –

in the deep north

a rice-planting song

Basho (tr David Barnhill)

Looking forward to see your haiku this week with any of the above summer/rainy season kigo. While the above kigo is preferred this week, you (especially poets outside India) may choose any other summer kigo

Ref:

https://indiasaijikiworlkhaiku.blogspot.com/2006/12/seasonal-words-list.html

<> <>

KIGO WORDS

Shall we please try to include a kigo word in all the poems we share here?

Give the season and the word — under your poem. 

I'm quoting Lev Hart's request here: "This week’s goal is to compose two verses with toriawase, blending wabi, sabi, karumi, mono no aware, and/or yugen. Tell us which aesthetic concepts you mean to express in a line below the verse. Strive for originality. Avoid stock phrases and shopworn images."

For seasonal references, please check these lists:

“A Dictionary of Haiku Classified by Season Words with Traditional and Modern Methods,” by Jane Reichhold:

https://thehaikufoundation.org/omeka/files/original/7fb6654a1dfd1afef97369da920530f8.pdf

indian subcontinent SAIJIKI:

https://www.trivenihaikai.in/indian-saijiki

The Five Hundred Essential Japanese Season Words:

http://www.2hweb.net/haikai/renku/500ESWd.html

The World Kigo Database:

https://wkdkigodatabase03.blogspot.com/

The Yuki Teikei Haiku Season Word List:

https://yths.org/season-word-list/

**

Thank you for this post, Srinivas.

I hope our poets take the challenge and create a haiku on these lines! You have been so well for the last many months.

Greatly indebted to you.

Dear Members,

Please give your feedback on others' commentary and poems, too. _()_

We are continuing haikaiTALKS grandly!

Keep writing and commenting! _kala