Hot

Today's high in Delhi: 108 F

I don’t think that I really understood heat until these past few days in Delhi. Today’s high is 108 degrees farenheit — tomorrow’s high will be 110 degrees. I am, thankfully, staying with our old family friend Rasil, who has a cool old house built to withstand heat and a green garden. But still, I feel almost genetically unprepared for this climatic situation. This heat makes me feel faint, like one of those poor pale Ladies of the Raj, and weak in the knees. My body was, I think, I designed for the steppes of Russia, the winter cities of Lithuania, not for India.  (Although it’s hard to imagine anyone is enjoying what is the hottest Delhi April on record). Going outside can only be compared to hot hairdryer billowing in your face — and that’s when there’s wind blowing. Otherwise, you really do bake. The only thing to do is siesta repeatedly — before lunch, after lunch, until the sun goes down. I never thought that I’d say it, but I do miss those cool (89 degree) Mumbai afternoons.

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