How do you bear the Indian heat (psychologically rather than physically)

ExpatUK

How do people who permanently living in India cope with the endless heat (from a psychological rather than physical perspective)?

Isn't the endless inescapable discomfort in many parts of India really depressing?

Nick-H

It is very simple: you aclimatise!

Then everything turns topsy turvy; I'm sitting in London just now putting on fivelayers, three of them fleece, and really looking forward to getting back to the heat of Chennai!

There is a frustrating period where you find ENgland too cold and India too hot, though!

There are also peak summer months where nobody, not even those who are born and bred there, is comfortable. Just about everybody hates April/May in Chennai, and parts of Northern India will be ten degrees hotter!

There are no absolutes, of course; it is a personal thing. My Chennai-native wife would love to move to the cool of Britain!!

It is important to realise that,physically, it takes months to acclimatise, not days of weeks. In London, 30 is a heatwave, and the BBC starts warning us about keeping out of the sun and drinking lots and so on. In my Indian city, 30 is winter almost, and you can see people wearing hats and scarves. Getting to that stage takes a few years.

It isn't depressing, no... in fact I find it, umm warming!.

I would find the much wider temperature range of somewhere like Delhi much harder to live with: like UK in the winter, but even hotter than Chennai in the summer.

Money helps: AC ofice, AC house, AC car. But I have always hated using AC like a refridgerator; it just makes going outside again harder, and prolongs the acclimatisation process --- as well as making for huge electric bills!

What I still find AC invaluable for is not so much reducing the temperature as reducing the humidity. Trying to sleep at night when there's a power cut in the Chennai summer and the air is like breathing water --- that I could find depressing!

Familyonthemove

Wear the right clothes, walk slow, try not to over-use the a/c ... I agree with Nick on this, a/c helps with the humidity, but a ceiling fan is normally enough. I found Mumbai in the winter pleasant and cool, and liked the summer heat as well.

Bangkok in the summer is in a different league for humidity ... lap top ruck sack is out of the question.

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Rupse

Hi Expatuk. Are you planning a long stay in India? If not, do you mind me asking why you are interested in this question?

The thought of the heat occupied a lot of my thinking proir to taking the plunge and living in India - visting India in the winter does not really prepare for the summer heat.

We only stayed for 2 summmers in Tamil Nadu (our return had nothing to do with the heat). Here are some thoughts:

1. the heat was not as bad as I expected.
2. the incremental increase in the temperture allows the body / mind to adjust somewhat. As Nick said you do aclimatise.
3. I would not say the heat was depressing but acceptance of the heat is necessary to stop ending up in a mental tormoil. Getting impatient with the heat just ends up making things a lot worse.
4. As family on the move said, wear the right clothes and walk slowly. But the adjustment has to be a lot more than that: avoid going out between 10am and 4pm if possible, drink a lots of fluid (water), avoid agruements, eat well, walk in the shade etc etc
5.It can become very tiring: the heat really saps the energy. I had a siesta after lunch; that recharged the batteries.
6. The evenings are fantastic. Everybody seems to be outside and enjoying the cooler temperatures. Where as in the daytime a lot of people are on edge, in the evening the atmosphere is really chilled (in more ways than one!)
7 I personally do not like AC - the ceiling fan was all we needed.
8 One of the biggest obstacles I found was accepting the sweating (you are sweating virtully 24 hrs a day - unless you have AC of course). You get used to it.
9 How you adjust really comes down to the sort of person you are. If you are somebody who likes to rush around all the time then it will be difficult. I can do nothing for hours at a time (and in the summer there is no guilt trip!).

Nick-H

There is very good reason why the day starts early here: even in the summer, those pre-dawn hours are comparatively pleasant. However, my body clock is absolutley opposed to this, and I often go to bed as India is getting up, and then go out at the hottest time of day. Mad dogs and Englishmen!Very, very true: I found that simply deciding not to mind it made a very big difference. I don't like it when it runs into the eyes and stings, otherwise, I just sit and sweat. Around my own house I wear little more than a light towel, and I ---simmer gently. Quite pleasant, really!

Out and about I find it less of a problem, as the sweating is less noticeable when you are on the move.

Rupse

Unlike you Nick I was usually up by 6am. Strong filter coffee, the paper and the world service news. What a start to the day...!

capt_mahajan

A few showers a day help in making you believe, psychologically, that you are cool . Helps with the sweating* too.


*And remember.. Like royalty, we don't sweat. We perspire

sannna

I agree with all the previous posts: not too much hanging out in A/C, taking time to acclimatise and mental acceptance of having to go slow at times and sweating, er... perspiration, is indeed all it takes. I hate the Dutch winters and I am truly happy that I miss part of it this year and am in Bombay, where it is 30 something during the day.

Summers are tough (April-May-June), but you find some consolance that everyone finds the summers tough, even those who've lived here all their lives. There is one huge bonus for living through Indian summers though: alphonso mangoes.

labrol

If I there were no power cuts, the Delhi summer wouldn't bother me. And above all, every reason to drive of to the Himalayas at every opportunity, with mangos in the luggage. Best of both worlds!
with long power cuts in Gurgaon, I do sometimes wish I had established myself in Bangalore or Pune.

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Rupse

Oh, you are so right!

The Wanderer

I have not yet traveled to India but I've lived in hot and humid climates (though more like 95-100F/35-38C with 75-95% humidity) and the above is perfect advice. Practicing whatever the Indian equivalent of Mañana is will likely do the trick. Just accept that you aren't going to be terribly productive during the day and embrace the siesta. Daiquiris can be a nice way to keep cool but you can completely write off the day with that method!

Rupse

I had to Google "Daiquiris"(it is a rum based drink right?)...! I know a lot of people who drink alcohol in the Indian summer (usually cold beer). I find the heat alone spaces me out without the need for further assistance! Also, cold drinks (fizzy or alcoholic) tend to give me throat problems (I think it is the sudden change in temperature).

Votha

The heat does beat the cold doesn't it?

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Rupse

It is interesting that Indian are often fascinated by the cold and have a desire to visit cold environments (be it North India, abroad, or in one of though new climatically controlled attractions that are springing up all over India). I guess it is not that surprising as it is something so different to what they are used to.

I was always fascinated by the heat and sweat. Heat suggests joy, expansion and a extroverted nature. The cold on the other hand suggests, eh, depression, contraction, and a introverted nature...!

judecg

You reckon? Hmm... you can always put on more clothes... but you can't take off more skin