“I don’t want to be February,’ cried out little Alex. His mother looked at the teacher helplessly. Mrs. Gomes, the class teacher asked gently, ‘Why Alex what’s the problem? Our play is on the months of the year. All months are important and so is February. Why don’t you want to be February and say out loud all the interesting facts about the month?’

Alex looked at her and said, ‘But ma’am, February is such a short month. It’s the shortest month! All the others in the class will have fun things to say. Like January will say it has New Year, May will say it has summer holidays, November will talk about Children’s Day. But there is nothing much about February. ‘

‘Oh,’ said Mrs. Gomes. ‘Alex do you really think February is so boring. Wait till I show you how unique February is. Let me read out your lines for you first.’

And so Mrs. Gomes took out the script of the play and opened to the page marked February. And she began reading with a lot of expressions and so perfectly.

Here comes the history

‘Hello All,

I am the month of February. I have only 28 days but once in every four years when there is a leap year I have 29 days. But do you know how I came about and why I am the shortest month?

The calendar we follow today was invented many years back by the Romans. Initially, there were only 10 months in the calendar. Yes, the Romans were very interested in farming and so their year began with the month of March and ended in December. Everything left out in between was termed as winter!

But of course, this led to a lot of confusion because it did not match the lunar calendar (the calendar that follows the cycle of the moon). So in the 8^th century BCE, a Roman king called Numa Pompilius added the months of January and February. And so I, February was the last month to be added to the calendar!

But the exact days still did not add up. Initially, it was made to be of 23 days. And finally, Julius Caesar arranged the calendar one more time. He made the months either 30 or 31 days but left me, February at 28 days to adjust the days in the year. The year now had 365.25 days and so to account for it, one extra day was added at the end of February once in four years.’

Mrs. Gomes looked at Arya and said. ‘Isn’t it interesting? Imagine February was the last month to be added and the only month that doesn’t have a fixed number of days. Now, how can that be boring Alex? Plus, imagine February, in itself is a balanced month. 4 weeks and 7 days make it 28 days. But February is so flexible that it allows its days to be adjusted for the sake of balance of all the days in the year! Now that is very responsible of it right?’

Alex began to see the point. Yes, he didn’t know February had such an interesting history. He looked inquiringly for more fascinating facts.

Here come the festivals

Mrs. Gomes said, ‘Alright, now Alex you thought not much happens in February right. Let’s find out.’ She picked up the script and continued pretending to be February and reading the script.

‘Friends, I might be a short month, but I have quite a few interesting days. Have you all heard about Valentine’s Day? Yes, that’s the day when we tell people we love them a lot. Besides, one of the best New Year celebrations of the world, the Chinese New Year falls in February. There are dragons and dances and costumes and parades that make the New Year so much fun.

Also, for more than 40 years, I, that is February was also the Black History Month. It was celebrated to remember important people from African –American origin and spread awareness for their equal rights. Related to America again, the Super Bowl which is one of the biggest sporting events in the country is held on the first Sunday of February.

And do you know the amazing festivals that are on in India during February? There is the Rann Utsav on the white sands of the Kutch region and the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh and Basant Panchami celebrated across India.’

Mrs. Gomes looked at Alex. He seemed very pleased indeed. February was quite something of a month he thought.

And here are some fascinating fun facts

She said,’ Do you want to know more Alex? There are a few more fun facts about February.’ ‘Really,’ said Alex, ‘there is more? Yes please tell me.’

And so Mrs. Gomes continued reading from the script. ‘Now that you all know so much about February let me tell you all a few fun facts about myself.  I am the most misspelled words in the English language.’

Alex laughed out loud. ‘Oh yes,’ continued Mrs. Gomes, ‘In fact, even the White House has misspelled February in their press release once! And do you know how did the word February originate?’

Alex shook his head. Mrs. Gomes said,’ Well, it comes from the word ‘februum’, which means purification. The Romans had an early spring cleaning festival ritual after which the month was named. And Alex what do you think is February a summer or a winter month?’

Alex shouted out excitedly, ‘it’s almost the end of winter ma’am. ‘ But Mrs. Gomes shook her head. ‘You are right, February is the third month of winter in the northern hemisphere. But, it is the last month of summer in the southern hemisphere. Isn’t that very interesting Alex? Imagine, the same month having opposite seasons at the same time in different hemispheres!’

Scientists and February?

Mrs. Gomes said, ‘The scientists have this special relationship with February. Quite a few scientists have their birthdays in February. Edison, Galileo, Darwin, Heinrich Hertz’, were born in February.’ This made Alex happy, as he loved science.

Are you a leapling or know one?

Alex was now overjoyed. He couldn’t wait to be February. Who would have thought that the month had so much history and fun facts? ‘And now finally Alex,’ said Mrs. Gomes, do you know your classmate Nishanth is a leapling.’

‘What,’ said Alex. Now, what exactly did that mean he thought? Mrs. Gomes said, ‘Yes, Alex Nishanth’s birthday is on 29^th February which comes only once in four years. So let us know some more fun things about Leap Day. A leap day is also called an intercalary day. 29th February is also called – the quadrennial day because it comes once in four years. One out of every 1461 persons is born on the 29^th of February and they are called leapers or leaplings.’

Wow thought Alex his friend was so special just because he was born on the last day of February in a leap year. This was all too exciting for Alex. He looked pleadingly at Mrs. Gomes and said, ‘I am sorry, but I do want to be February. In fact, I think I am the most interesting month.’

Mrs. Gomes smiled as his mother heaved a sigh of relief. Oh yes, February is a short, sweet but very fascinating month. Do you have something special for this month too?