Another year, another summer, but this summer is like no other I have ever experienced before. Its my first summer in Chandigarh, where I spent my summers before is a long story and a different place every year :)
Believe it or not, as soon as the temperatures climbed to above 20 C at night, the general populace began to feel the need to start their air conditioning. Frankly till the end of March, I did not even need the fan at night. But, then of course, in our country who am I to point such criminal waste of energy. The response I expect is I have money, I am paying for it, whats bothering you?
With April came the dust storms, and boy I have never seen dust storms like these before. Entire hoardings twisted like a leaf, entire boards ripped and blown off of their fixtures. I lost my right side bike mirror to such an event. Huge amounts of dust and dirt transported for miles around. In fact one day there was a dust stormm somewhere else and the residual air in the dust caused a hazy day in Chandigarh so bad, that we did not see the sun that day. It was awesome in a way. To be so humbled and put in out place by nature. I was sorry I could not go to the terrace of my building and enjoy it, watch it wreck havoc and destruction on all the bill boards / advertising and the like all around. It was simply too dusty to see anything.
The worst part was not that I was interrupted in the task I had set out for by 2 hrs, or the fact that I was covered in dust from my scalp to toe, or the fact that the storm caused power lines to break resulting in a 4 hour power outage in my area (some areas suffered longer). No of this was bad enough. The worst part was that my house was invaded by this dust, i do leave some windows open for ventilation. And the open windows were my undoing. I spent 2 days cleaning up all that.
But the summer initially brought many pleasant things. I could ride my bike without being frozen to the bone, Beer was suddenly very very tempting. No more wearing layers of clothing was definitely a relief. The best part being able to take a shower after a long day. A cold shower. Summer also brought out a metamorphosis in the vegetation of Chandigarh. While at first the trees startled me by shedding leaves at the onset of spring, but then there was new foliage with flowers. It was a wonderful sight.
Now its June and the summer is getting to me, like all good things, a summer in excess is not good. Temperatures soar to 43 C and above during the day. the night is slightly cooler at 34 C, but I still the need the fans going full blast 24x7. Even that does not stop me from sweating it out. With Punjab Reeling under a shortfall of 224 Lac units daily, power cuts now are random lasting for random amounts of time. Nothing is more frustrating than having to wake up in the night when the air from the fan starts flowing.
Powercuts have their own advantage. They force one to get out, cause its too stifling inside the house. On a day long power cut, the options are endless, if there is work pending, go to the office and work in peace where there is an air conditioner and power back up. Or time may be spent at a good mall watching a movie if there is a suitable one.
Summer also means long day time hours here up north. Its a killer. At 8 am everything is ablaze like its 11 am and equally warm. Stays light till 7:45 pm. The air is super heated all day long. Riding the bike is like riding in an oven. In Goa, a breeze brings relief from the heat and the humidity, but here, the air is dry and hot. Quite the opposite effect.
And now we wait for the meagre rainfall (compared to the Western Ghats) that usually comes in July. It seems going to be delayed this year, the time of agonising heat just increased.
While this tirade has gone long enough. Back to the steady humming of the air conditioners and power cuts.
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