6C feels like 4C
on Passage to India (India), 05/Jan/2011 11:11, 34 days ago
Normal0falsefalsefalseEN-USX-NONEX-NONEMicrosoftInternetExplorer4/* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}That’s today’s temperature in New Delhi.I whined toMichaelthis morning about how so not fair it is when weather bureaus forecast max-min temp (today’s is 15C/6C or 59F/43F), yet they also say that it actually feels colder.It has a debilitating effect on.Every morning when I wake up I check the currenttemp so I could psyche myself up and decide how many layers of clothes should i wear. Today, at 7 am the temp was 5C, my problem was I don't have enough clothes to wear anymore; yesterday I wore 4 layers with the same temp as today, and the other day 3 layers.Buying more warm clothes is out of the question, it's beyond my budget. And then without a washing machine it's difficult to handwash clothes with tap water that's close to freezing point. Add to that New Delhi has been covered with fog for 2 weeks now that even If i did my laundry last weekend, they're still damp today. The only solution I had was to reuse clothes from yesterday or the other day.But it isn't just about the clothes. It gets so painfully cold here because both our house and our office building have marble floors and huge glass windows designed to fend off summer heat. Even if i wore enough clothes and covered my head with beanie my hands would still be exposed, forhow could I work with thick gloves on. The office has provided some low-voltage heaters but the quantity is not enough for the size of the building and the number of staff. The heaters are so inadequate that I stole Mike's and then he borrowed the chairperson's who is not in office today. Having said all that, I am still feeling so chilly that it proves to be extremely challenging to concentrate on work. Last week Michael, on our way home, was asking me several things but I could barely comprehend what he was saying. This must be what my son meant when as a kid, he would bellow "Brain freeze!!!" after slurping 16 ounces of Slurpee.Seriously, in UK and Canada the temperature may be down to negative two-digits but at least they have centralized heating systems and carpeted floors. Here, the only relief from the cold is get a portable heater if you can afford it, join Indians gathered around a small fire they made, or get on SRO bus or metro train. Trust me that when you're on a bus or metro during rush hour, you would forget it's winter in New Delhi. It also helps if you could just exclaim to anyone who would listen, "it's too cold!" as if they don't know it yet.