It's the Heat AND the Humidity

Phew. It’s getting really hot here. Like most Midwesterners I pride myself on my ability to withstand extreme weather. Builds character and all that. But man! It’s getting hot and its only going to get hotter until the monsoon brings rain and a (slight) cooling effect. Most of us have experienced that cliché, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity…” Well, this afternoon after about five minutes of walking through Colaba, I was convinced that both heat and humidity were likely to kill me if I didn’t sit down and gulp some water. Every day now is like the hottest, most humid day in an Iowa July. Actually, to describe it, I find myself thinking about the extreme cold of Midwest winters. You Minnesotans will know what I’m talking about. When I lived in Minneapolis and had to walk to work in the dead of winter, there were mornings when my snot would freeze immediately upon stepping out the door. Here it’s getting so hot and humid that if I have to go out for something in the afternoon, whether its groceries or relief from cabin fever, my eyelids start sweating as soon as I hit the pavement/dirt of Doongarshi Road.

We do have an air conditioner in our flat, but most of the time a ceiling fan on high is enough to keep us comfortable at home. But I think of all the people who live and work without even the luxury of a ceiling fan…what do they do? Well, they sweat. They’re just hot. And it’s okay. We have a tendency to want to over-heat and over-cool ourselves when we get a little uncomfortable. Needless to say, the fancy hotels and high-end restaurants here are absolutely frigid. But for the banana man and chaiwallah who set up shop outside St. Elizabeth Hospital down the street, a blue plastic tarp is enough to provide some relief from the midday heat. Suspended from the wall and supported by two long sticks, a simple shady lean-to provides enough relief that they still sip that piping hot chai! Though when the sun sets in the evening and the breeze starts to pick up off of the Arabian Sea, all of Mumbai lets out a nice long sigh.