Enjoying summer season bounties

Some childhood memories remain embedded in one’s consciousness for a lifetime. One such is of days we used to travel from Mumbai (our city home) to my grandfather’s farm in village Marwa, Uttar Pradesh. Why we had two homes and why our farm and city home were so far apart still confuses me. I was given a long explanation which I won’t bore you with. My parents, brothers and I would board the Dehradun Express in mid summer when schools would break. We didn’t travel first, but in second class compartments without air-conditioning. Therefore my father would buy a block of ice and plant it in a bucket under the compartment’s electric fan. Good old-fashioned luxury, much better than modern air-conditioning which doesn’t allow the body to adjust to the summer heat as it builds up day by day. That’s why those who are in and out of air-conditioning tend to feel the heat much more than those who don’t use air-conditioning. When we’d arrive in Delhi and sometimes break journey, after the tolerable humidity of Mumbai, the dry heat of Delhi used to be unbearable. I remember experiencing breathing difficulties in a Delhi clubhouse where the scorching nights were something I could never have anticipated. Eventually we would fall asleep after pouring cold water on our mattresses. I pride myself on not being a cribber, taking each moment at a time and enjoying each season for what it brings. Since I’ve begun working my farm, the beauty and utility of each season has been greatly accentuated. The visual treat of flowering trees helps one tolerate summer heat. Ditto the array of summer fruits and vegetables in which India is so rich. Although this summer I have been feeling the rising temperature — blame it on global warming — I have also learnt to savour and appreciate the cool sea breezes of Mumbai. There is plenty of it if one is not cooped up at home or office or in an air-conditioned room. The cement boxes that pass for homes translate into hot cases just like metal cars which absorb heat.  Admittedly, we cannot do much about many things. Say, for instance, the house you live in or the office in which you work. But you can dress in fine cotton clothing to feel cool, and also eat light. This goes well with my philosophy of need less, use less, buy less. To follow the dress light rule, be careful to ensure that you don’t purchase synthetic mixes being sold as cotton. To eat light, stick to fruits and vegetables that the season brings forth. Eating seasonal always helps you cope with prevalent weather conditions.  For example we eat bajra rotis in the winter because millet is a winter crop which keeps us warm. Likewise abundantly available watermelon and other melons are just what the body needs in hot summers. Their water content and nutrients are designed to keep us cool. However please note that all fruit needs to be…