Isn’t it funny?

I grew up in the then Madras city, Kanchipuram, Kanpur (after getting to be a half adult), then, as a full adult (please indulge me), in Jaipur (and still maturing), Mumbai,  and now, at the near-fag end of my life, in the suburbs of Thiruchirapalli, all in India. We enjoyed, repeat enjoyed, summer temperatures of 40^oC plus, I stress plus.

In 1991, I travelled nearly two days in an Indian Railways train in a not-airconditioned coach in the second week of May and went through the baking ovens of southern and central India, not to mention that I alighted in Delhi, the cauldron it was at that time of the year. I came out alive! I took care of myself as best as I could, thanks to my mother who knew a lot in this department.  

Yes, if nature thinks you deserve nothing less, all you can do is enjoy it. As some idiot said about something else some years ago, no point complaining about it.

In between, I spent, more than twelve years near abouts the Ohio River Valley where, if not the heat, the humidity kills you.

I have survived all these weather-wise almost-outliers, from the perspective of denizens of the developed world.

Now I read how France is under a heat wave. Oh, I pity the French for experiencing 37-38 degree Celsius temperatures! Oh, England (not Scotland) is on the verge of hitting 40^oC, and a huge song and dance is being made about it.

The rails may buckle under the heat, some rail people warn you in London. Metro services are going on leave, as they need their summer breaks! (Doubts about their brakes?)

About two decades ago, upwards of 3,000 people died in France due to record breaking heat, for those time. Now again, the records are being broken, but France appears to be prepared for this record-breaking performance.

France cannot complain it had not been warned. Perhaps it will not. But, why did England not learn from the French? Learn from the French? Yuk, I am better dead.

There is a recorded anecdote of two explorers setting off on a trek through the desert Australian outbacks, much against their friends’ advice. They were also told to take the help of the aboriginals they could meet, particularly about encountering and overcoming the heat the region is famous for. They could care less – gone mad, natives teaching us? - and died.

I would like French and English governments to send delegates to visit Barmer in Rajasthan to get first hand advice on survival!

I have survived heat and humidity in the normal course of my life, and am still doing so – adjusting to the ruthless traffic conditions on the roads of India.

This is, in an expanded sense, the proof of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection.

To get back to the title, the big brouhaha of heat wave in France, England, and other countries of southern and western Europe, is nothing more than a tempest in a tea pot. It is funny in the particular sense that such a normal situation for me is exceptional for some others and this difference gave me an opportunity to vent.

Thanks Europeans!

Raghuram Ekambaram