Survival of the Coolest

The new financial year has begun. It was time to leave for office. My wrist watch hands struck 2. The sun shone as if it was warning me not to get out. I checked the temperature on my cell phone – 34 degrees Celsius. Damn! But office could not be skipped.

After accumulating a lot of courage and motivation, I set out on a 7 km journey which seemed more like a survival-of-the-fittest-expedition because of the scorching environment that the yellow ball of fire above us had inflicted upon the innocent civilians. I made my way out of my building trying to ditch the “killer” sunrays. A bus halted in front of me and I boarded it. There were only a few commuters; some going to work, some returning from work and some going elsewhere. I grabbed a seat that was bestowed by shade. After having paid the bus fare, I glanced at the travelers. Beads of perspiration on their foreheads and waterfalls of sweat had soaked their clothes to such an extent that the color change was conspicuous. A man pulled out his file and started fanning himself. Everyone wanted to reach their destination as soon as possible, and cursed every passenger in their minds who made the bus halt at a bus stop to board/alight. In all of this setting, there was a lady wearing a saree. Of all the people in the bus, the sun was cursed by her the most. And why wouldn't she??! The sun was giving her a real hard time.

Coming from a hot place like Goa, this heat was nothing new to me and it was tolerable. Nevertheless, my eyes and head have been regular victims of aching due to such gruesome environment. Thoughts started pacing in my mind, but they resembled more to questions – Are we responsible for this dramatic increase in the temperature? Are our activities the root cause of this “burning hell”? Can we prevent it? How? What can and has to be done?

A lot of distractions did not let me seek answers to my rapidly increasing question set. My mind drifted to the people on the road. Everyone says that they need the sun for survival. But now I could see that they were fighting against the sun for survival.

More questions – This is a story in a place like India which is quite far from the equator. What about a place on the equator? What would be the case in a desert? How do people even survive the hot burning infra-red rays of long wavelengths?

Every summer weekday afternoon, I set out on this horrendous commute through an inferno to office. Many people refer to their office as being unpleasant but suddenly it becomes the best place to be in summers. In all of this thinking and my quest for answers, it was my turn to alight. I wished I was in office by now. As the auto rickshaw engine roared and it picked up speed, I could see that the distance between me and my office was plummeting, a thought that comforted me. Three and a half minutes later, I entered the huge building where I work. A sigh of relief! I was greeted by the air conditioners with cool air rejuvenating my burnt skin. How much I owe it to them! I know that I will have to go through this all over again tomorrow, but that is all of the sun that I am going to see and feel for today – Hasta la vista, sol!

But to come to think of it, this is just the beginning. Be prepared when the sun comes to its full power making the mercury rise at an unbelievable pace. That day is not too far. Brace yourselves!