There is much that I love about summer: swimming, eating ice creams, the heavenly scent of the jasmine blossom, the burst of flavour of a perfect ripe mango, the smell of wet earth when the rain finally hits the earth. However, I have to admit that all this is outweighed by how much I hate the oppressive, extreme heat of the Indian summer. I get crabby and difficult to live with; and apparently that isn’t so unusual!
A team of Polish researchers found a connection between rising temperatures and our stress levels. Considering that Poland is not exactly a hot country, I doubt they can actually fathom the depths of distress that a typical Indian summer plunges us into!
Before we say well, duh! I could have told them this without research, it is interesting to understand the physiological reason for this though. Apparently rising temperatures are linked to a rise in levels of cortisol; this could impact the regulation of sugar and salt levels in the body. Supposedly, criminals display increased levels of violence when temperatures are higher!
I don’t know about you, but the one thing I hate most about summer is sweat – unattractive sweat patches on clothes, sweat that gets into the eyes during a workout or while doing anything at all that needs the least physical effort and that acute desire for the AC and to escape into the hills!
Summer means an uptick in mosquitoes, flies and other creepy-crawlies. And during summer, they are everywhere! Indoors, outdoors and in places you least expect them to be!
Yes, fear! The brutal midday sun means that most sane people simply want to stay indoors until the sun’s ferocity dims a little. In the bargain, we feel lethargic; finding excuses not to do things that need doing!
Plants wilt, flowers die, everything seems to be only half-alive in summer! The ground is cracked, everything seems bleached by the merciless sun!
Feet smell, shoes and clothes smell. Things go bad quickly and start to stink. As for travel by public transport during summer – you would have to be very brave indeed!
Think about the amount of water we use up just trying to feel clean and comfortable! This, at a time when the water shortage is at its most acute! Summer is full of such ironies!
We want to live in the A/c during the cruel summer months; is it any wonder that the electricity bills are exorbitant! And if there are power cuts during the grim summer months and we still have to pay those big bills; well that is just insult added to injury!
Getting into a car parked in the sun is the purest symptom of torture. No matter how fancy a Beemer you have, it will still be scorching hot inside and the most powerful AC will still take time to cool down the car. And your temper!
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