I turned the car a/c knob to 2, turned the vents towards me and wondered at the change I had undergone.
There was a time when I hated the a/c in the car. But increasingly, even if my children want the windows down, I discourage them because of the heat and dust. But even if the a/c was on, I would turn the vents away because I hate the cold air blast directly on me. I would keep the knob turned at the minimum because I don't want to feel cold, only cool.
But now, even after turning it up from 1 to 2 (in my 13 year-old car, 1 is stage 1 of cooling, 2, higher and so on). Even at 2, and with the vents facing me, I felt no respite from the heat outside. Chennai is living up to its hot, hotter, hottest climatic pattern. But what is worrying is that at a time it should have come down to 'hotter', it is still at 'hottest'.
And I wondered at the change. In me, in the climate outside. The road stretches with no respite, covered endlessly with gravel and tar, radiating heatr. Denuded of trees, there is no hint of shade of any kind. The famous sea breeze is missing and even after 6 in the evening, hot winds blow - like the loo of Delhi. Maybe it is a sign of the change of winds in Delhi blowing across the country, but if it is going to be this hot I may have preferred status quo!
I wondered at man and his evolution. Cars are a great luxury that allow us comfort while covering long distances. But they demand more space to enable those distances. And trees have to give way to create those roads and parking spaces. And because there are no trees, the temperature keeps climbing. So we need cars to cover those distances comfortably... And so we cut more trees... And the temperatures keep rising up.
Oh, did I say that already!
Does everyone know this already? Am I saying nothing new? And yet we continue to live this way?
Why?
There was a time when I hated the a/c in the car. But increasingly, even if my children want the windows down, I discourage them because of the heat and dust. But even if the a/c was on, I would turn the vents away because I hate the cold air blast directly on me. I would keep the knob turned at the minimum because I don't want to feel cold, only cool.
But now, even after turning it up from 1 to 2 (in my 13 year-old car, 1 is stage 1 of cooling, 2, higher and so on). Even at 2, and with the vents facing me, I felt no respite from the heat outside. Chennai is living up to its hot, hotter, hottest climatic pattern. But what is worrying is that at a time it should have come down to 'hotter', it is still at 'hottest'.
And I wondered at the change. In me, in the climate outside. The road stretches with no respite, covered endlessly with gravel and tar, radiating heatr. Denuded of trees, there is no hint of shade of any kind. The famous sea breeze is missing and even after 6 in the evening, hot winds blow - like the loo of Delhi. Maybe it is a sign of the change of winds in Delhi blowing across the country, but if it is going to be this hot I may have preferred status quo!
I wondered at man and his evolution. Cars are a great luxury that allow us comfort while covering long distances. But they demand more space to enable those distances. And trees have to give way to create those roads and parking spaces. And because there are no trees, the temperature keeps climbing. So we need cars to cover those distances comfortably... And so we cut more trees... And the temperatures keep rising up.
Oh, did I say that already!
Does everyone know this already? Am I saying nothing new? And yet we continue to live this way?
Why?
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