I must devote a blog in testamnt of bubbling inferno called Delhi in July. I need more intense words to describe Delhi heat, but actually, heat’s not a concept you can describe anyway, you have to experience it, so let me give you an example of how hot it is. (110 degrees F says something, but again, I’m looking for some tangible translation for you.) One day we were walking around Old Delhi, trying not to get run over as we walked in the street, and I reached into my bag to take out my camera. When I withdrew my fingers, they seemed to be filled with chocolate. Now almost everyone reading this blog knows that it’s very probable that I would have a bar of chocolate in my bag, and it wouldn’t be surprising to think it melted in 110 degree weather. However, it wasn’t chocolate, it was a hard Werther’s caramel that had succumbed to the heat and was reduced to a liquid state. That’s the kind of intensity I’m talking about.
How hot is it? It’s so hot the government postponed the opening of Delhi’s schools for another week in hopes the monsoons would come and cool it off.
It’s so hot that today an Indian woman told us not to walk outside, just before we proceed to do a forced march for about 20 minutes in the sun.
If you know the expression “Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday Sun” (Noel Coward lyric maybe), I think he must have been writing about Delhi. I’m an Iowa native, so I know what hot feels like. This is NOT hot, this is simply beyond the pale. And it’s just not heat. It’s humidity, it’s smog, and an unrelenting sun (don’t they have any clouds around here?). Here’s the ultimate question regarding the heat: What crazy person invented the sari for women who have to live in this heat? Ok, there’s a little open skin between the short bodice and the waist, but there are yards of material, and draping here and there, and it’s a miracle Indian women aren’t seen dropping like flies as a result. Also, I think all Muslim women should get a dispensation from the covered head and arms edict because of the heat, but that’s not really the faith that deals in dispensations, is it?
We did a walking tour of Old Delhi the other day, and the term throng of humanity kept crossing my mind as I tried to weave my way in and out of the people, the cows, the auto rickshaws, and motorcycles. I thought of throng of humanity because I’m not sure what a throng is, exactly, but it sounds oppressive, intense, and out of control. Old Delhi is a throng, and then some. In the video attached, check out the wires going everywhere and nowhere above the walking area. It keeps you on your toes during a lightning storm, I would imagine. When I first came out of the subway (new to Delhi since 2002) I was reminded of the Canal Street Subway stop in Manhattan, but really, that is child’s play compared to this cacophony. The Chinese community in NYC needs to step it up about 50 notches to be in competition. For a Hindu Deity today I looked for someone who handled fire, because it seemed appropriate…. I couldn’t find a fire wielding god, but I did find someone who can serve as an analogy to the heat: Bhairava, one of the manifestations of Shiva. Bhairava is Shiva at his most terrifying; his most fierce (get the analogy?). Bhairava has sharp fangs and is a manifestation of Shiva’s anger and vengeance toward Lord Brahma (long standing feud that involves one of them cutting off the head off of the other over a dispute. Not to worry though, Bhairava had a few heads to spare). Bhairava wandered around in a daze, begging, for a long time, until he reached the holy city of Benares, where he begged forgiveness and began again. He is painted in village to ward off evil spirits. Could the heat count as an evil spirit????
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