The feeling was more like the Earth was covered with a hot blanket, the heat was merciless and unforgiving and this was the prevailing and current weather condition in Hyderabad, India irrespective of seasons except when it rained.
When I was a kid, Hyderabad had an amazing weather and I never knew how it felt to sweat. Summers were pleasant with bright days and cool evenings, the community where we lived had lot of trees and we as kids used to play till late night in the open lawns. Even in school during our games period too I never felt the exertion. Winters were chilly, during the rainy season Hyderabad recorded heavy rains and the spring season was always pleasant. In fact when my relatives visited us at Hyderabad from the coastal regions of Andhra, they felt that winters were too chilly for them. The present conditions are far from regular, and the weather is no longer the same in Hyderabad.
For the past ten years, it felt like a different city that I have been living in, I couldn’t survive the summers without the air conditioning. The time spent in the kitchen for cooking felt like hell, I used to be drenched in sweat, and would head straight to the coolness of my room. The intense heat and exertion gave me frequent headaches, and I always had a soothing balm in my hand ever so often rubbing and massaging it into my temples, and if it was severe and unbearable I had to take a medicine. Summers always meant that I was counting the days and eagerly waiting for the monsoons to arrive, while this was the opposite when I was a kid, when I used to look forward to the long days of summer. And winters are no longer chilly, and all our winter clothes are lying in the cupboards gathering dust with their musty smell. I miss the chilly winters when I would snuggle deep into my comforter and stay warm and secure. The colourful sweaters that I would sport during winters all are something of the past.
But this year the summer has been even hotter and the humidity had reached its peak that the air condition would be running 24x7. This made me wonder how the poor people like my maid and our apartment security man were surviving. Even when I used to go for a walk with my friends in the evening my hand fan would always be with me.
I heaved a sigh of relief once the monsoons arrived, but this happiness didn’t last long. Since last week there were no rains and my kitchen duty was making me irritated and angry, what with the humidity at its peak, and I was sweating profusely. It was like the summer season was an integral part of every season, the heat and the humidity spreading and continuing into all the seasons. The weather and the heat affected my moods and made me annoyed and angry, tempers and voices rose and the atmosphere at home would heat up like the outdoor weather. I used to pick up arguments at the drop of a hat, and all the staying at home due to the Covid19 situation was further adding fuel to the already heated conditions.
When it rained the weather cooled down but again the next day it would be even more humid and my headaches became even more frequent, it was like my migraines were back with a vengeance. All these changes in the weather were reminding me that climate change was here to stay unless we did something about it. Climate Change was having a direct effect on me, my stress and anxiety levels were going up. The heat was unbearable and I was unable to think straight, as a result I was stressed out and restless all the time. I was having negative feelings of doom and despair, and the only thing which was keeping me sane was my evening walks on the terrace when the cool breeze lifted my spirits.
The frequent, unseasonal rains and dust in Hyderabad are a result of the increasing effects of climate change. Climate change is affecting our community by impacting on a number of resources in our day to day life like effecting our health, food and water supplies, infrastructure, transport etc.
This made me think about the importance of considering the weather and climate change while constructing a house. Proper ventilation, trees, skylights, type of finishes, material, location, orientation and everything else that plays an important role in keeping the building interiors cool while constructing a building should be given utmost importance while constructing a building.
It’s a long road to slow or stop climate change, but unless every single person commits to lead a sustainable and eco-friendly life the changes in atmosphere and our surrounding environment won’t cool down. A change in lifestyle and living in harmony with nature without abusing our natural resources goes a long way in healing our climate and mother Earth.