Rain

So the monsoon has arrived in Delhi—and the rest of the country—somewhat ahead of schedule. Which means that summer is over, and we’re now into the rainy season.  

The cooler weather is obviously a huge relief to everyone… It’s hard to believe that only 3 weeks ago it was 45 degrees, but as I write this it’s currently 25.   Last night was the first night in 2-3 months when I didn’t have to have the air conditioning on all night in my bedroom.

Surviving the summer heat was one of the challenges I’d been anticipating, but in the end it wasn’t quite as taxing as expected.  Admittedly I did spend most of May sitting in an air-conditioned office, which helps a lot.  Three weeks of 45 degrees isn’t pleasant by any means, but it’s doable, so long as you don’t try and actually do anything outside.  I became quite used to arriving at the metro station drenched in sweat (like many others), and drinking a 1.5L bottle of water in the hour it takes to get to work.

Anyway, it’s good to know that’s behind us now.  The next challenge is dealing with 3 months of heavy rain!

My fledgling roof terrace garden has also heaved a big sigh of relief, and I went out this morning to trim back all the brown leaves that had been scorched by the relentless sun.  I was looking forward to pottering about out there, especially since the skies were grey so I wouldn’t have to worry about being sun-burned, but the heavens opened late morning and we’ve had heavy rain and thunderstorms pretty much non-stop so far today.

I’ve got 2 weeks vacation coming up at the end of this week, and really not sure where to go now… there’s little point in heading somewhere if it’s going to be raining heavily.  Time for some homework.