Friday, May 14, 2010

Heat does strange things to men...

I realise the impact of the printed word. We were getting along fine, braving the summer heat, till now .

But two days ago we woke up to read ‘Hottest day at 44.5C’ in large, bold font in all the newspapers. The TV channels took it from there. With added visual effects, shots of dry lake beds, blazing sun et al. Suddenly the heat became unbearable. People had dour expressions.

The smiles vanished.

Fans, coolers, ACs were kept running at maximum speed and lowest temperatures. Apparently, these machines are not ‘India ready’ as some claim to be. The Electricity Department immediately took note of the increased power consumption and enforced longer hours of power cut.

I see fellow humans complaining of the heat, not stirring out of air conditioned rooms, guzzling unhealthy drinks to quench thirst. But then it does baffle me, when at mealtime, they forget their woes and find themselves seated in front of a plate of hot steaming rice over which is poured a spoon of ghee and a decent ( or should I say indecent ) serving of fresh avakayya – the famous Andhra mango pickle – made with the spiciest of Guntur red chillies. They eat with relish.

Beads of perspiration line the forehead. It is only then he smiles,


Strange are the ways of men.

16 comments:

  1. How true.Strange are the ways.But don't they wear a satisfied smile even when they polish off a bowl of cool curd rice along with maavadu(small mangoes soaked in brine)

    Why single out men?Would the reaction be any different for womenfolk?I don't think so.

    The enjoyable post brought a smile in my face

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  2. Notwithstanding the current young generation that lives from Cola to cola in summer, I remember my mother actually telling me, that the best thing to have was actually a nice cup of hot tea. She actually would follow that in Pune, and even the water drunk at mealtimes, or should I say after mealtimes was hot. Some ayurvedic funda about digestion, drinking that watre 30 minutes after food.

    As for steaming rice and pickles, give it to me anytime :-) ..

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  3. Nice, one Radha: Even I did not feel the heat inside the house. Only after reading the temperature in TV news at night, I come to know about the day's temperature and start telling stories to my husband... how hot the day was and how tough it was to make chapaathis in the afternoon with sooo much perspiration!

    Women too are like that...hahaha!

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  4. LOL ! Strange are our ways. With airconditioners to cool our skin and hot chillies to heat up our internal walls !

    all to get that smile on the face !!


    heat does strange things to men. And women too !

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  5. I apologise if I offended the 'men'. This was a general observation. I did not wish to write men/women, he/she kind of a post.
    KP: We feel heat saps our energy and appetite. But it is just not true!
    UK: My mother would give us a glass of hot ragi malt - home made. I loved it.
    Sandhya- Being in the kitchen in this weather is a curse.
    Kavi - Yes, women too!!

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  6. Even women are like that:)..however heat I am feeling, but I need my hot cuppa tea all the time,but of course it can be drunk only sitting in cool.

    and then mattha with lunch:)

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  7. he he he!

    How true! In the defense of men, they also chuck down steamed rice with curd. :)

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  8. A very good Observation. I totally agree.But I guess its with the men mostly, since these days women hardly eat anything, and would love to sweat it out anyway. ;)

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  9. It is the same here, though I think our weather does not get as hot as yours. We tire of the chilled food and crave something warm, for it does not seem to be as hot as the weather outside, grins.

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  10. First of all let me say, if I had heat like that I would be melted into a puddle for sure! Wowsa, we can not imagine heat like that on our side of the world! And me being middle aged too...well, my internal furnace would be breaking down!! Smile.

    Yes, my husband who comes from a hot country, would say, have a cup of tea to cool down!

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  11. Ha ha u r so rt! I did nt realize it was so bad too till I saw it on news!

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  12. So good food is indeed an effective antidote to heat :-)

    Guntur red chillies! Didn't someone once say it takes fire to fight fire? :-)

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  13. Beautiful post. It is all in the mind. Those visuals in the news really give you the heat.

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  14. These chillies help in cooling the body.
    (today's DH carried a news item mentioning not to read newspapers early in the morning.:))

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  15. guzzling unhealthy drinks to quench thirst........ I wonder why people drink those colorful liquid in fancy bottles, nothing but aerated water and sugar.

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  16. True . People forget the heat when they eat , dont they ? And I can drink gallons of tea , never mind the heat !

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