Hot, humid, sweaty, sunny, scorching...these are the usual adjectives for Kolkata summer...usual, until I started missing a bigger part of Kolkata summer, until I craved to go back to the warmth in the heat, the breeze between the sun rays, the rain at the end of a scorching day.
My oldest memories of Kolkata summer go back to my schooldays. Water in water bottles used to get over faster that time and the ones who retained their water till school got over, had hot, tasteless water left. We used to have innovative ideas to keep water cool till the final bell rang. I used to take a bottle of ice, sometimes two, instead of a bottle of water to school...and, slowly, as the ice melted, it left behind cool water. Running around the school campus, or jumping around during lunch break left us panting for breath, our shirts wet and hair dripping with sweat. Summer in school never used to seem long as we used to have a month long vacation and by the time school reopened, rains would have already hit the city.
Summer vacations were fun. Ripe mangoes, bursting jack-fruits, cold shakes with extra ice, speeding fan, dark rooms with dark curtains drawn tightly to block the sun...not much studies as new sessions usually just start before the vacation, taking bath twice or thrice is fun as it leaves you cool and fresh during summer afternoons...
Summer afternoons in Kolkata, when I look back, bears a strange touch of nostalgia. Thirsty crows perching on lamp posts, dry roads yellowed by the bright sun, black umbrellas to stop the cruel sun rays, lesser people on the streets and more ice cream vendors. During this scorching summer every household has ripe mangoes and juicy lichis in their fruit baskets, squash in the fridge and ice in the freezer.
In college, summer hardly played a spoilsport while hanging out with friends or going out on dates. There's always the long stretch of green grass along the river Ganga which remains cool with the shady trees that tower over the stretch or by the breeze that ripples the river waters and plays with your hair. There are also a lot of parks, all full of cool shades with huge green trees, lots of air-conditioned hangouts, where you can sit for hours with a glass of cold fizz or coffee.
Added to all the heat and sweat is the wait...the eternal wait for the rains. Rain god is merciful at times and the hottest of summer afternoons is often followed by powerful thunderstorms, called nor' westers, cool drizzle and a balmy breeze. Evening walkers increase on these days and the sighs of relief from the Kolkatans fills the city with an air of satisfaction and happiness.
Kolkata is often a lot more than it portrays...a lot more than you see apparently. Behind the scorching sun and perspiring heat, there lies a subtle sense of intimacy during Kolkata summers...an intimacy aroused by cursing the sun, by waiting for nor' westers and loving the cool drizzle on the thirsty streets...an intimacy which comes from the common suffering of all Kolkatans and the common smile after a sudden splashy rainy evening.
Everyone during summer talks about the unbearable heat, about the cheap mangoes, about global warming and how Kolkata is getting hotter every year, about the temperature soaring up everyday, about the rising electricity bill due to continuous air-conditioning, about the humidity and about the wait for the rains.
I miss Kolkata summer...with all the odds and ends...with the heat, the humidity, the common cribbings about summer, the mangoes, the jackfruits, the lichis, the suddenness of the evening rains, the intimacy, the nostalgia. I miss Kolkata summer as a major part of me, a major part of my growing up years...and I love the city all over again, 'coz I miss it so!
