FEELING HOT HOT HOT....!

 “Feeling hot hot hot…." (https://youtu.be/rbc_LxfhSoY) reminds me of the calypso by Merry Men. The similarity ends with the words, while the band was grooving on the number, we are almost scorched by the number displayed in degree Celsius. Weather Gods are out to punish us for our misdemeanours over the years, we have axed not just trees but our very lifeline. We have polluted the environment to our own peril, all the exhaust fumes from vehicles and the smoke being belched out from furnaces have all contributed to this unbearable heat. But even today the Doubting Thomases would not believe the phenomenon of Global Warming.

A human being can bear extreme cold as he can protect himself with layers of clothing and by taking all precautions, but when it comes to extreme heat, then there is a limit to the number of clothes you may choose to part with, and even if you are sky clad, you still feel like being in an oven, duly skinned and roasted  for effect. As we grow older we recall our childhood with fondness and nostalgia, of days gone by when many cities like Pune were  non fan stations in Military Engineering Services parlance. Mercury shooting past 40 degree celsius was reported in national news, the good old earthen pitchers and surahis were adequate to quench your thirst. A small table fan was adequate in  Indore- Dhar where I grew up. I still recall the first ceiling fan which we purchased in 1974 and it was such a luxury sitting underneath enjoying the cool gush of the air. At my grandfather's place we had an old desert cooler, now that was simply heavenly and we all eagerly looked forward to the post lunch siesta period in cooler climes in the cooled room. Nights were always very pleasant in the Malwa region. So much so that most of us slept on the roof and needed quilts at night, as in the wee hours it did get chilly at times. As the saying went, "Subah-e-Banaras", "Sham-e-Awadh" and "Shab-e-Malwa". The mornings of Banaras, evenings of Awadh and nights of Malwa  are an exquisite experience in itself. Alas all that is a thing of the past as the nights these days in concrete jungle that we have created for ourselves has put paid to those evenings with a gentle breeze.

I still recall once when I was to undergo medical examination for RIMC Entrance, it was to be conducted at Allahabad. I should have realised then and there, as that was an indication from God himself, despatching my father and self in the peak of summers to Prayagraj of today. The place was hot not by today's standards but then we were based in Dhar where again by today's standards we were in a hill station. There are Military Hospitals in Mhow, Bhopal, Jabalpur, Mathura and of course Delhi but we were sent to Allahabad. Mhow mind you is a mere 55 kilometres away from Dhar but then Army likes to make things challenging to check if you actually have it in you! Rising to the challenge, we did and promptly landed up in Allahabad. The train journey itself was quite an experience which I have described in one of my earliest blogs Rail Travails (https://senseinthenonsense.blogspot.com/2009/04/rail-travails-travels-has-not-been.html). We were staying at the Railways Retiring Room and in the Coal Engine days  the Railway Stations were naturally a degree or two warmer as compared to rest of the town. We would take turns to take a shower and then sit under the fan to keep us from being charred.

Indian Army also conducts its major exercises  in the desert during peak summers and having been part of them umpteen number of times, cooped in BMPs  and Tatras with mercury shooting past the 50 degree celsius we had to establish a Cool Room, as per the instructions to prevent heat strokes. The Cool Rooms were those 180 lbs tents with a cooler and lot of ice in a tub, our own unit produced aerated drinks thrown in plenty. It served the purpose nevertheless. We didn't have time to crib about the heat, too engrossed in the activities. These days we sit in air-conditioned homes comfortably, even if we do go to the offices, we commute in air-conditioned cars to air-conditioned offices but still keep harping about the heat, sharing the memes on social media with glee.

What we don't do is take any positive action to deal with this situation, we don't switch off the AC, don't plant trees instead fell forests for our unnecessary needs. High time, we wake up and rise to the occasion and do our bit to save our  planet.