Surviving the Mumbai heat in a cramped Worli Apartment

Not a very appeasing title is it? Too bad, because I can really write about nothing else at the moment. You could say that my brain is ‘fried’ - and this is not a metaphorical declaration. Blessed to work in super 'cool' office premises and cursed to live in a rented flat where you cannot bring in an air conditioner. Did I mention that the flat is on the 4rth floor of a 21 storeyed building which, wait for it, is overshadowed by a more huge - more massive - 110 storeyed building! Wait some more... this looming overshadowing building's facade blocks the view from the only windows you have, and if you are actually still waiting and still reading for some more of the irony of life - this huge building stands between you and the famed Worli Sea Face.

Yes, the very same face of the sea where thousands of faces can be seen throughout the day - some faces trying to feel the cool breeze while ignoring the omnipresent stench, while other faces are not visible because they are pressed deeply and passionately into yet other faces. Okay now all of our minds are wandering onto more pleasant thoughts, so let us get back to the unpleasant task at hand.

 Literally quite close to, yet figuratively quite far from the cool breeze and the passionate loving of the Worli Sea Face, is my house, and the aforementioned huge building (still getting built by the way so let’s not discount the dust and noise) which is doing an effective job of ensuring that I can quite effortlessly forget about the breeze from the sea. It’s the kind of nice, yet on the cheaper side of rentals available in Worli - something I could afford amidst the mindblastingly staggering rental rates here. So I was quite pleased with myself, in fact I still am, for when the windows are wide open there is still quite a nice breeze managing its way in from Lord- knows-where.

 Honestly, I cannot and will not blame my choice of the flat for this post - its the heat.. the unrelenting heat - the heat waves that are generating such news waves that my colleague all the way from Jakarta pings me at work if I am late and checks if I am okay and whether it’s the heat that has gotten to me and delayed me. Little had I known this temperature and this torture was waiting to engulf the flat when I had calmly smiled at the broker's 'No AC Allowed' disclaimer - something about a society with a shared meter system or something. The place was so cool and breezy that day, that I didn’t know weekends in the months of April and May were going to suck the life out of me.

 So what have I been doing to survive the weekends? (YES, thankfully just the weekends because CS takes care of my cooling needs during the week.)
 Have I mentioned my two baby cats - I cannot call them kittens now - they are too huge. I have taken a page (in fact two) out of their survival tactics. And these two tips are the most useful for me :
Sleep on the floor in the afternoons on a jute mat (Since I have one or for my reader just the plain floor is good enough) They do tend to come and plonk themselves on my tummy but that little bit of warmth is kind of nice and my heart goes too mush-mush to object to this.
Drink lots and lots of water (in fact one my cats just hugs the water bowl and sits there sipping frequently)

 Other things I do -

Wear minimal clothing and when I say minimal I actually mean close to none. When I am home alone it’s just me and my tee and when someone drops by - I pick up the boxers.
Tie up my hair at all times. Yes I have chopped off my hair but what little I have - I pin it up and work it into the funniest little ponytail.
Go in the evening with preferred companions to the Worli Sea Face - which is popping up so many times in this post.
Don’t walk - just don’t walk when you can take a cab. What….You are health conscious..? Hmmmm.. I see….. not dying of a heat stroke is considered quite healthy in most places.. so again DONT WALK. You can indulge your walk-everywhere tendencies when the sun is not shining.
Take frequent showers - I do this as a cooling service to myself and as social service to my friends.
 Buy Tang.. or Rasna.. or ORS.. and drink lots and lots of it.
Forget about any activity and just read, with a bottle of water ready at hand... OR maybe keep the mind busy concocting pointless posts like this one.
Keep the extra cushions at bay - people who have come home will tell you that I have a penchant for cushions - I have a tiny space and way too many cushions - but the last few weeks very few of them have been put out to strut their images/slogans and other stuff - they find themselves stacked unimaginatively one on top of the other in a corner - I have seen that contact with too many of those when I am lazing makes me warm (not in a good way) and irritable!

 I am doing my bit - trying to survive and not die till the monsoons hit us, and biding my time till I can write pretty sounding, poetic sounding posts on how the pitter patter of the raindrops is making me feel. Oh wait … I have already done that once during the first months of this blog.. ....will have to think of something else this monsoon.

CLICK HERE to read the monsoon post.. I reread my own post to relive some of the magic that's monsoon in Mumbai! And it added to my final tip - remember what it feels like during the better times and wait for it..

 If you guys have any additional tips to help me survive. - without a cooler and an AC and with two overenthusiastic fur babies (who are so active in the atfernoons that it makes me sweat just to look at them!), then please do let me know. I know my so called tips aren’t exactly a path-breaking revelation - but well this post gave me something to do besides sit and crib about the heat. Dear Surya - Consider this uninspiring post my ode to your brilliant rays - and reduce the heat a bit dear Lord!