Of course this is a savage reminder of climate change, and how brutal even its early effects are. Even as some of us may be privileged to remain in air-conditioned environs of the home or the office, a majority of people in the city do not have access to climate control. They live in small, poorly ventilated and crowded rooms, and leaving home is usually an escape.
India has always been a hot and humid country. But how wonderful times may have been when we dressed for the summer. Even nobles wore soft, diaphanous muslin, Indian mulmul or its more sophisticated avatar of jamdani. This gossamer-like fabric was the specialty of Bengal and Bangladesh, and remains the finest fabric made by human hands. European colonisers found it shameless because of its transparent nature, and yet it is the only fabric they would wear to face our summers.
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William Dalrymple goes further back
Indian readers have long known William Dalrymple as the chronicler nonpareil of India in the early years of the British raj. His latest book, The Golden Road, is a striking departure, since it takes him to a period from about the third century BC to the 12th-13th centuries CE.
The bleat from the street
What with all the apps delivering straight to one’s doorstep, the supermarkets, the food halls and even the occasional (super-expensive) pop-up thela (cart) offering the woke from field-to-fork option, the good old veggie-market/mandi has fallen off my regular beat.
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If you don’t live in the top four-five northern states of India, winter means little else than a pair of jeans. I live in Mumbai, where only mad people wear jeans throughout the year. High temperatures and extreme levels of humidity ensure we go to work in mulmul salwars, cotton pants, or, if you are lucky like me, wear shorts every day.
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