The Heat is On

It's March. The thermometer in the house read a stunning 36 degrees this afternoon. 36 degrees, in March, in Bombay. WOW! That's hot. The IMD claims that the summer in Bombay is from the 1st of March onwards, but hey, I'm sure last March had the temperatures below 30.

However, there seemed to be quite a few people who were making hay while the sun shines. With the heat, came the hot dry Easterly winds. And on a trip to the market this morning, I saw this vendor selling these colourful paper fans. The fans were spinning around with the warm breeze creating a pleasant cacophony of colours. Every child that went past stared longingly at the fans. And the child in every adult that went past wanted to reach out and touch the fans ... but there were too many people watching to behave like a child. The guy in the blue shirt, his face hidden behind the riot of colours that were the twirling fans, was a happy man. The warm breeze would help sell his wares. An hour later when we went past, there were just 6 fans left. Mr. Blue Shirt was drenched in sweat but was smiling in glee. A day well spent.

A little down the road was a man selling matkas those earthen pots that are the poor man's water cooler. But come to think of it, why just the poor man's water cooler? Why don't we all use a matka?

In today's energy hungry and time pressed world, we all head for the refrigerator for that sip of cold water. And the refrigerators come in various shapes, sizes and types. There are single door and multiple door. Frost free or direct cool. 90 ltrs or 1,000 ltrs. The choice is huge, the range is bigger but they all do the same thing. They hog energy. And contribute to a planet that is less green and more filled with green house gasses.

So why don't we look at a green solution for cold water - the matka solution. A solution that gives you water that is not too cold - just a couple of degrees cooler that the atmosphere around and so just right for your body. A solution that uses the heat and dryness in the atmosphere around to cool the water and does not use electricity, electricity that has come from burning coal or oil or some other green house gas producer. Let's take this step to leave a greener world for our children.