ChinmayC Blog

It’d be wrong if I say I’ll never be able to forget about that particular near-dawn while nestled inside a crammed flat in a congested locality of Kolkata, which was once, in my opinion, given the euphoric title of ‘City of Joy’. Instead, I should say I’ll always remember that particular near-dawn which is essentially to keep myself somewhat prepared for more similar or worse experiences in the near future. Yes, it’s about the IMD-described ‘one of the longest and deadliest summers in India’ of which Kolkata is a very significant part. Now to what happened in that near-dawn which is, in fact, is only a day before .   I woke up suddenly in the dead of the night and immediately felt the oppressiveness which was apparently the cause of waking up. The ceiling fan was whirring above us, my wife and I; but its gusts of air were no longer airy—it only seemed to have lost itself into the relentless clutch of that oppressiveness. I was sweating profusely and the heat rashes all over my bo...

When we returned to Kolkata by the third week of January 2023 we hoped we still had a chance of catching the winter that we miss most often due to our compulsory visits to Maharashtra. As per our own experience in previous years in the city of joy the month of February could still be cold or even chilly if you're lucky! We had the stock of the woollens ready to welcome us in. However, to our utter disappointment the temperatures kept on climbing making the use of all my sweaters, jackets, blazers and so on an wasted thought. The summer looked to be around very early this time. In fact, in several regions of the country there were heat waves! February heat waves, imagine!  Early March we came to Assam as another integral part of our compulsive itinerary. The first few days were almost the same in terms of heat, except that the nights were much cooler, but still not enough to justify the use of sweaters one of which I carried in my bag as a reasonable discretion. From the 15th of tha...

The South West Monsoon has always been the mainstay of Indian agriculture, being the main source of rainfall accounting for more than 75% of total rainfall in the country every year. Most often than not, the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) forecasts a normal or near-normal monsoon with about -/+ 5% margin of error, and this year (2022) too it had predicted a normal monsoon which, in fact, was supposed to arrive at least a week in advance. And, it did indeed arrive early hitting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands by middle of May, and then advancing to Kerala, to Maharashtra and gradually the whole country. Unfortunately, its early arrival hasn’t benefited even Kerala and Maharashtra, patiently queuing up for the early-bird offers,  while venting its wrath in the North East, particularly in the state of Assam creating unprecedented floods in the main city of Guwahati and many other districts. In a few days the monsoon had exceeded its monthly quota of rains in Assam by more than...

The Indian summer begins from around the end of March and temperatures start soaring reaching the peak in the month of May in the range of 40 to 47/48 degree Celsius in most parts of North, North-Western and Central regions. This year, 2022, however, the heat began from the second part of March and temperatures soared to much above normal by mid-April reaching the forties. Immediately thereafter, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had declared heat wave conditions and then orange alert in various parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. Normally, heat wave conditions are declared when temperatures cross the 40 ℃ mark and orange alert as the 45 ℃ is crossed. The capital city Delhi has been in heat wave conditions for the last fortnight and on Friday, the 29 th of April, the mercury has crossed 46.4 ℃ making this month the hottest ever April in the capital in 72 years. As per the IMD data this April could very well be the ...