Summer

Summer has hit with a vengeance. It is plus 35 already in the daytime, and the forecast for Calcutta this year seems to be 49 degreess Celsius. It is my first Calcutta summer in some time, and I take it as a (over) warm welcome :) 

Having seen the worst blazing summers in Delhi, I can claim to be sufficiently immune to heat waves. But even so, I am bracing for the worst. Bottles of cold drinks  and water notwithstanding, one still feels drained , and even more so if one is outside. The perspiration also hits. This will, however, be the scenario for the next 3-4 months, so we are bracing ourselves for the worst.

Some of the worst summers I spent were in Delhi, where I had to sleep on the terrace at night (with the mosquitoes and in threat of the monkeys!)  due to the infamous power cuts, nearly 7 years back.I remember how I used to drench my mattress with water (which used to evaporate pretty soon), and buy endless cold water bottles ( since there was no fridge) at my flat ( one room on the floor-called Barsati ) at Munirka.

Summer wasn’t always this cruel in Calcutta. Our childhood saw moderate summers, with long summer holidays and glasses of Rasna. Now, my daughter is enjoying her summer holidays.

I can only hope that the AC will save us this season, situated as we are on the fourth floor. In a way, summer shows us what “survival of the fittest” is all about.Here’s praying for a  relatively mild summer :)