Kishore Singh: No escaping the heat

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The shower, even at six in the morning, was like boiling needles on the skin. Delhi had been burning, fiery winds blew through the night, and there was no escaping the sizzle of summer. The air-conditioning groaned as it hoped to offer some respite, but with the walls hot to the touch, it was an uphill task to cool the rooms.

All over the city, the power broke down, generators packed up, and the fierce heat kept tempers high "" and rising! Was it hotter than usual? Perhaps. May had been marvellous by comparison, but the June temperatures kept getting higher till there was very little difference between the maximum and the minimum. Would we ever cool off?

We felt it the more acutely because we had just returned from a brief holiday in the desert. What they said about mad dogs and Englishmen applied equally to Rajputs "" you simply couldn't keep them away from Rajasthan, even at the height of summer. How, then, could we complain about the weather?

But even Rajasthan had seemed cooler than Delhi by comparison. An escape to the hills was in order, but with only a few days in hand, our options were limited. Fortunately, Air Deccan had introduced flights to Shimla, and there was room at Wildflower Hall. Finally, we would be cool.

Fate decreed otherwise. We arrived at the airport sweaty and bothered, to join a noisy queue waiting to check in. Having collected our boarding passes and cleared security, we waited in the departure bay where, every time the gates for those boarding flights opened, hot gusts of wind blew in.

Even though it was still early morning, it was like being in a furnace. When it was our turn to board, it seemed the entire planeload had been stuffed into just one bus. But even that was better than being in the aircraft which sat roasting in the sun, its air-conditioning switched off.

For all our complaints, there was nothing to do but fan ourselves with the safety manual. Rivers of sweat poured down and settled into the fabric of the seats. And if this was how Air Deccan saved on expenses, it was evident the aircraft seats were only as hygienic as Delhi's fur-upholstered taxis on which drivers slept during the night, and on which passengers sat through the day. To be hot and sweaty is bad enough, but to have to sit where millions had sweated before was the ultimate punishment.

When the aircon came on, and for the duration of the flight, it was hardly sufficient to be comfortable, and soon the lot of us had developed headaches. And no sooner had the plane landed than the air-conditioning was switched off again. No sauna was more effective.

The hotel car was heaven-sent, and as we ascended to, first, Shimla, and then Kufri, we kept the windows rolled down. The chill air was just what the doctor had ordered. Because the flight was delayed, by the time we checked in, it was getting on to the lunch hour, so after the children had been for a quick swim, we decided to make a meal of it on the terrace overlooking the mountains. As the shadows lengthened and the sun abandoned the terrace, we shivered in the cold. This was bliss.

So, when a friend called to suggest that we might want to be more gainfully employed sitting in the jacuzzi adjacent to the pool, a drink in hand, we were more than happy to fall in with his wish. Till the children came back to report that the attendant wanted an hour's notice so that the water could be heated. One way or another, there's no getting away from the hot water this summer.