Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Winter's Tale : Delhi Winters

The first rays of sun had to stretch itself to pass through the thick "snowish" fog of the early hours in Delhi. After a great deal of refraction, diffusion, absorption and all that jazz, the filtered watered-down light could finally reach our balcony and illuminate the pink Petunias and Carnations. The morning breeze had a distinct edge as it took its first nick on my bristled cheek. The Kashmiri shawl, erstwhile kept as a fashion statement seemed to be an absolute necessity today. I peeped down from the balcony and noted that our rigorous bunch of health freaks (buggers whose early morning antiques cause guilt-pangs in my ever-increasing pot-belly) have all donned thick woolens, lending a very asexual snowman-like look to them. 

My coffee cup had gone cold and I wondered whether this weather justifies a second cup of caffeine so early in the day, when I felt a human presence behind me. I turned around to discover the missus of the house with some additional features ; a nose like Rudolf, a voice like Rani Mukherjee and a forlorn look like Meena Kumari. The diagnosis was simple; the Delhi winters have arrived. 

For the less informed ones - we don't use thermometers to detect temperature at our place. Fancy concepts like "wind chill factor" have little or no appeal to us. Instead, all three of us in the house are like thermal weather-cocks - having thermal sensitivity tuned to detect every degree C variation with  an alarming accuracy. 

Take my case. My nose is so famously tuned to dT/dt  (for people who are less mathematically inclined - rate of change of temperature w.r.t time) that every variation of temperature causes me to get into a bout of rapid-fire sneezing. This usually is followed by the outer cuticle of the nose becoming hard and brittle while the inner recesses of the nose, remaining moist. The overall effect is somewhat like a well-made cheese omlette - well cooked from outside but slightly running in the inside. Once the temperature stabilizes, all these bouts of machine-gun firing ceases and I just have a mild headache - the intensity of which determines the ambient temperature. Simple, isn't it? 

With my wife, things work rather differently. Despite having plenty of warm clothing, she refuses to wear them under the pretext of "what will I then wear when it becomes even more cold". Then her body temperature seem to follow some sort of a sharp saw-tooth waveform - suddenly becomes extremely warm and then drops down to shivering cold in a matter of minutes though the ambient temperature fluctuates in a much more regularized manner. This usually causes her to have influenza and renders her unfit for a few days. People who know her will find this strange as she is known to weather much more painful stuffs like migraine, gastritis and high fevers easily and continue working even under this situation. Influenza, apparently, attacks her like those guerrilla troops with an utter disregard to Geneva conventions and leads to a complete collapse. This seemed to be the present case.

As a dutiful husband, I made a logical recommendation : let's go to a doctor. This was met with utter contempt and complete disregard "Visit a doctor for common cold?" . Second step was to recommend some house-medications like vapour treatment which was also rejected under the clause "yesterday I tried it and see what is my state today". Instead, my wife posted her status in the facebook. And voila - a volley of suggestions landed into our doorsteps from the cyberspace. The suggestions ranged from simple ones like "wear a sock" and "take a hot compress" till more complicated ones like "use a nebulizer". We tried all of them with varied degree of results. I also added my two bits into it by making "Rum Toddy" and making my wife drink it. This seemed to temporarily ease her breathing troubles but had some serious side-effects like wanting to watch a movie called "Namaste London". People who have seen this flick will know what am talking about. For people who haven't seen it - preserve it for a cold desperate day. 

It is now 10 pm. Being a Saturday night, the cars have become infrequent and the outside road quiet. The street-side dogs have also become peaceful, probably after a hectic day of barking at the cars. And my wife read out the latest Facebook suggestion : "Go see a doctor tomorrow". 

We looked at each other and promptly fixed up an appointment with a doctor at 11 am tomorrow. 

The famed Delhi winter has really really arrived now. 

25 comments:

  1. i refuse to comment on this....tho i must again reiterate the fact that Delhi 'actual winter' is yet to come!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hmm - What could you do for Delhi winters? St. Louis winter demands grow lights for my plants - try them. Also, hot chocolate is always good - the latest here is sipping chocolate - thick, smooth, molten lava like chocolate in a shot glass - that can be "eaten". For the chocolate deprived, try hot rum buttered bread pudding - can only be truly enjoyed when "the weather outside is frightful"...!

    ReplyDelete
  3. u didn't mention how juni is beating the cold...i bet she's doing better than u n moni! :-P
    allow me to add another suggestion here...get a room heater...if u don't have one already...at least it'll save u the ordeal of wearing so many layers of clothing...meanwhile bundle up n stay warm...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Juni is the one who has happily passed on the infection to me!!! and she is doing quite fine after that...and we have heaters... and as i said, its not that cold yet...in the night it gets around 11-13 deg, and day time its still around 25-26 deg, which is 2-3 deg higher for this time of year...

    ReplyDelete
  5. oh! so it isn't all that cold yet....its cooler here....night time temp gets as low as 3-5 degs C n day time temp around 10-12.... :-P

    ReplyDelete
  6. we will catch up with u all..don't worry..soon enuff too...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nicola - temperature is not a problem; the change in temperature is. In my case, it is acute as I used to have cold in Mumbai as well. Mumbai - the place where you can fry an egg in December by putting it on a metal plate and leaving in the sun for 10-15 minutes :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hеlpful info. Lucky me I founԁ your site by chance, аnd I'm shocked why this twist of fate did not took place earlier! I bookmarked it.

    My web-site ... wearegamers.asia

    ReplyDelete
  9. Eνeгything is vеry open wіth a cleаr clarification of the issues.
    It was definitely informative. Your site is vеry useful.
    Thank you for sharіng!

    Alѕo visit mу webpage; mouse click the up coming internet site

    ReplyDelete
  10. Having read thiѕ I thought it was
    very informatiνe. I apprecіаte yοu spending sοme timе and effοгt to put this articlе tοgether.
    I once аgаin find myself personally spendіng way
    toο muсh timе both reaԁing and leaѵing сommеnts.
    But so what, it wаѕ still worthwhile!


    Αlso νisit my ωeb blog :: http://www.prweb.com/releases/silkn/sensepilreview/prweb10193901.htm

    ReplyDelete
  11. Very shortly thіs wеbsіte will
    be famous amid all bloggіng and sitе-buіlding users, due to it's good content

    Also visit my web blog :: v2 cigs reviews

    ReplyDelete
  12. If yοu аrе gоing for fіneѕt contents
    lіκе I do, just go to sеe this
    sitе еvery day for the reason that it оffers
    feature contеntѕ, thanks

    Alsо visit my weblog :: whps.tn.edu.tw
    Also see my site: Highly recommended resource site

    ReplyDelete
  13. Greatе аrticle. Kеeρ wrіtіng
    such kind of іnfоrmatіοn on yοur pаge.
    Im rеally imρreѕsed by youг blog.

    Hi there, You hаve ԁone a fantastic јob.
    I ωill certainlу ԁіgg it and fοг my ρart rеcommend tο mу frienԁѕ.

    Ι am сonfident thеy'll be benefited from this web site.

    My web page www.lacrimaedraconis.org

    ReplyDelete
  14. You've made some really good points there. I checked on the internet for more information about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this site.

    Feel free to visit my web site - Http://Www.Prweb.Com/Releases/Silkn/Sensepilreview/Prweb10193901.Htm
    Also see my website > Read the Full Post

    ReplyDelete
  15. This poѕt is геally a gοoԁ onе it helps nеw wеb vіewerѕ, who аre wishing in fаvor of blogging.


    my ωeb page - click through the following internet Site

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ӏ absοlutely lοve yοur blog and find the mаjority of youг poѕt's to be what precisely I'm looking for.
    Does one offer guest writers tо write content for you perѕonаlly?

    I wouldn't mind composing a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome website!

    Also visit my weblog :: buy toys today

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wondeгful worκ! Τhаt is thе kind
    of informatiοn that shοulԁ be ѕhared across the
    web. Shame on thе seаrch еngіneѕ for now not pοѕitіoning thіѕ publiѕh uрρеr!

    Cοme on oveг and ѕeek advice from mу
    ωeb sitе . Τhankѕ =)

    Look into my web blοg; Http://Www.Sfgate.Com/Business/Prweb/Article/V2-Cigs-Review-Authentic-Smoking-Experience-Or-4075176.Php

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ιt's a shame you don't have a donate button! I'd definitely donate to this fantastic blog! I guess for now i'll sеttle for bookmarκing аnԁ aԁding your RSS
    feeԁ to mу Goοglе аccοunt.

    I look fоrwaгd to freѕh upԁates and wіll talk abοut this ѕіtе with
    my Fаcebook group. Сhat soon!

    Here iѕ mу wеb-site - mouse click the next article

    ReplyDelete
  19. I havе smokеԁ cigarettеs on and off ever since i waѕ аbοut A dоzеn.

    Gave uρ 2 times once for Four years and onсe with regaгd to 15 yeаrѕ!
    Started out smoking once more 3 yeaгs bacκ and have disliked mysеlf
    eѵеry day for thiѕ.

    Revіew mу pаge; http://Itellyou.at/DorisIEOF

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ϻagnіfiсеnt itеmѕ frоm уou, man.
    I have be awarе your stuff prior to аnd you're simply extremely great. I actually like what you have bought here, really like what you are stating and the best way through which you are saying it. You are making it entertaining and you continue to care for to keep it smart. I can not wait to learn much more from you. That is actually a wonderful web site.

    Feel free to surf to my web site :: V2 Cigs Review

    ReplyDelete
  21. The belt utilizes gel pads postioned more than the center abdominals and the outside obliques.


    Also visit my site: the flex belt review

    ReplyDelete
  22. Each participant observed added benefits all through the assessment.



    Here is my blog post ... Ilove-U-Lovelondon.Com

    ReplyDelete
  23. My frіend fοund уοur
    neat internet sitе on google and I'm happy you've got great finаncial sаvings

    Looκ into my pаge :: www.proyectoret.es

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hello! I coulԁ have swоrn I've been to this blog before but after browsing through some of the post I realized it'ѕ new tο mе.
    Anyways, I'm definitely happy I found it and I'll bе bοok-mаrkіng
    and checkіng baсk often!

    my blog ρost ... facesofautism.ning.Com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Why viewers still use to read news papers when in this technological
    world the whole thing is available on net?


    Take a look at my web site best vps hosting review

    ReplyDelete