Getting Roasted In Delhi's Summer Heat

By M. Saraswathi, Bernama's India correspondent NEW DELHI (India), May 25 (Bernama) -- "I feel like throwing myself in a pool of ice cubes." "It's so very hot." These are the status updates of some of my friends in Malaysia in their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Many Malaysians have been getting hot under the collar of late when the thermometer for Malaysian weather has been hitting 32 degrees Celsius or so instead of the usual 26 or 27 degrees. But they should consider themselves very lucky to be staying in Malaysia, a place with cooler climes when compared with India. For the residents here in New Delhi, 32 degrees is considered "pleasant". In fact, this year is said to be one of the most pleasant summers in many years in Delhi although the southern parts of the country have been blazing hot as compared to previous years. Among the five southern cities of Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Kochi and Coimbatore, two -- Hyderabad and Chennai -- have touched 42 degrees between May 11 and 17. The highest so far in Delhi this month has been averaging at 41-42 degrees as compared with the usual 44-45 degrees at this time of the year, according to Delhiites. A little bit of rain sometimes brings down the heat to 37-38 degrees and raises cheer among the people in Delhi. It was reported that for the first time in 18 years, April passed by Delhi without the temperature touching 40 degrees. That month's highest temperature was 38.7 degrees on April 3 and was also the lowest maximum in April since 1982, and the second lowest since 1969, the Times of India reported. As a result, not a single day of heat wave was declared in northwest India last month. Dust storms are also common during summer in Delhi. This comes about when it gets too hot. A vacuum is created, and then the strong winds sweep up the dust into the air. But rather than complaining of their after-effects, where houses and their surroundings are covered with layers of dust, people in Delhi, to some extent, cherish over its arrival as it help to bring down the mercury in the thermometer. When summer arrives, water supply issues also shoot up, and this is followed by hygiene and sanitation problems as well as electricity shortage amid the spike in power usage. All the news of a better summer or the "coldest" summer didn't sway me from complaining about the heat because being a Malaysian, if 32 degrees was something to jump about here, 42 degrees is definitely hot and unbearable. The only soothing news for now is that I am told that the monsoon is expected to arrive on time by June 1, which is expected to bring down the searing temperatures in the air as well as in people. The Central Metrological Department says the monsoon is expected to hit the Kerala coast by then, plus or minus four days. According to the locals here, it takes about 20 days to a month for the cooling effect of the monsoon rains to reach Delhi. Till then, I will have to grit my teeth and stay cool despite being "roasted" and "toasted" in the Delhi summer heat. The ongoing experience has triggered a question in me: how often do we Malaysians realise what a blessed nation we have, not only in terms of climate, but also peace, harmony and prosperity? -- BERNAMA