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| The Gathering Storm |
A blistering summer is upon us this year and there is no escape from the heat or the humidity. In Calcutta temperatures ranged from 40C to 42C last week. The streets wore a deserted look in the day with people wary of venturing out in the heat and with good reason. Heat related deaths in the state almost touched a hundred, which is I must say, an appalling figure. Even the Air Conditioners gave up their noble fight and barely wheezed cool air under the stifling weight of summer heat. Whenever I drove past traffic policemen I felt sorry for them standing out in the sun with nothing to protect them save a metal helmet.
But enough of the obvious morbidity of the situation, there is a lighter side to summer. The kids are on their summer recess (now extended) and families are heading to the hills or foreign climes. Readers of this blog will realize that I happen to be slightly out of the ordinary, so when most people get influenza in the winters, I got mine this year at the peak of summer, accompanied by a throat infection. And I confess, even at 42C hot Lung Fung Soup felt good to the palate and warmed up my cockles no end. The infection lasted 5 days even with heavy dosage of anti-biotics and other assorted drugs and it gave me the luxury of resting for 4 out of those 5 days, even in this busy season.
However, there are signs of a change in the weather. The MET Department says we are to have Monsoons by 10th June. Yesterday evening we had heavy thundershowers which cooled things down considerably. If that is a sign of things to come, it is welcome indeed!
