A Grueling Tale of Relentlessly Humid Heat! Extremely Uneven Monsoon!

Climate change and global warming are by now household words, and more frighteningly, the impact of these terms have been cruelly discernible in the daily lives of the citizens in many parts of India and the world. The world leaders must understand the deadly reality of our only habitat getting hotter and hotter by the day, and if this is not checked immediately by whatever possible means in our command this planet is set to be uninhabitable very soon, sooner than we think. The South West Monsoon, still the mainstay of agriculture in India, has been uneven this year in the extremes—some traditionally dry regions getting excess rains to a huge extent, some regions getting their full quota delivered in a matter of days and some traditionally wet regions still not having a monsoon with its usual flow and downpours. Therefore, in all such cases the monsoon is not helping the farmers at all, and on the other hand, people in many areas with scarce rainfall are suffering from continuous heat waves and relentless humid heat even in the traditionally wet months of July and August.

 

We were in Kolkata, the state of West Bengal, during most of the first three months of June-August, and although the monsoon made an early entry it is yet to justify its normal course of behavior and downpour. The Met department has been putting the blame on the absence of low-pressure systems in the Bay of Bengal, and even though there were two or three low-pressure developments in the recent weeks the state of Odisha got the rains away from Bengal on all such occasions, leading to excess rains there. Therefore in Kolkata and several other districts, we continued to suffer from intolerable humid heat and unusually high temperatures hovering around 35 degree C.; rains have been there in fits and starts, but not with the heart in its right place.

 

Around mid-August we came to the north-eastern state of Assam on family issues and a home visit that had been pending since the outbreak of the pandemic. Assam has been a state where the rain Gods always showered mercy upon. Here, we all have been growing up with the notion that following a day of sultry heat a thundershower invariably comes in the evening or late night thus giving immediate relief. However, during the first ten days of our stay in Guwahati we’ve not seen a single drop of rain or high wind; forget about the nostalgic sound of the thunder and the sight of black rain-bearing clouds. One obvious factor is that the near-full monsoon quota was delivered just in days in the month of late May and early June, leading to unprecedented floods and rainwater logging. And now, only humid heat prevails with temperatures around 35 which are extremely unusual with no relief in weeks.

 

Then, we traveled eastward to Nagaon, a city in central Assam. The scenario gets even worse. We’ve immediately encountered a 2-degree hike in temperature than in Guwahati, that is say around 37 degree C, in these areas with the roasting humidity adding fuel to the heat-fire. And yes, no relief in terms of thundershowers or high wind or anything. The halfhearted clouds that gather almost on a daily basis make it a more insufferable experience. The farmers are put into a contrasting situation—they first had a rain deluge in their fields thus delaying the cropping season and now their fields with growing plants are cracking up due to the total absence of rain. This is not just our tale; it is the tale of a huge chunk of humanity spread across the planet. Only recently, we heard about the unprecedented heat wave in England where the temperatures crossed the 40-degree mark with scary ease.

 

Those lucky ones who can afford the ACs are having some relief sitting at home, but all those ACs humming around every corner—let it be Kolkata or Guwahati or Nagaon—are spreading more hot airs out and making the environment warmer still. In my lifetime I’ve never experienced such fury of unabated heat in my own home state of Assam. Yes, Mother Nature has never been as angry as in the last few years, including this year as perhaps the most watershed one. Nowadays She never bothers about human weather forecasts and ignores those regularly. Humankind must find ways of placating Mother Nature fast, as fast as they’re capable of. All global energy must be concentrated on this battle instead of indulging in ones against each other and endangering the global warming further by pandering to Third World War sentiments. Mind you, it’s basically the weather and the environment that shape human progress and peace. Extreme conditions lead to intolerance among humans, racism and so many other social evils as have been rampant in many nations of the world. It’s Now or Never!