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Of Weather Reports

Remember this lady?

The Weather lady on Doordarshan? She and I share a special bond. For the longest time, in my devious mind, weather and temperatures were the only measures of comparison between cities. And when I talk cities, I obviously always mean Delhi Versus the hometown, Hyderabad.
The rules in my teeny-tine 6 year old brain were very clear.

Rule 1: In summer, check the Maximum temperature. It has to be high.
Rule 2: In winter, check the Minimum temperature. It has to be low.

So like a small little chameleon, I would hang around the TV at 08:20 pm and wait for this beautiful lady to make an appearance and show the magic numbers. In summers, she would pronounce Delhi to be hot at 44 degrees. And then the map would gradually pan South and she would gracefully point to Hyderabad and say 34 degrees. In my head, Delhi won! We had the higher number and so we won! No matter that we would be under a heat reel with loos blowing and not a bit of relief. No matter that coolers were ineffective unless you virtually put your head inside the huge thing and risked getting your head chopped off by the loud fan. Delhi won because 44 > 34.

In winters, my eyes would shift to the minimum temperatures. Wearing 3 layers of sweaters and too cold to even take my hands out of the gloves, I would sit in a corner and stare at the TV at 08:20 pm. The lady would appear and talk about the "Sheet lehar" or cold wave in the North and with shaky fingers point towards a chilling 3 degrees in Delhi. And then the map pans South and there it is. Hyderabad at a pleasant minimum of 18 degrees. Hmmmppphhh. We won again! So what if getting up in the mornings is a punishment. So what is I cant see my school bus from behind the fog. We won because 4 < 18.

That was my story 18 years ago. And would you believe it if I said that's still my story? :-O
I still compare extreme temperatures and laugh a little evil laugh to myself..Why, you may ask.

Its actually a genetic problem. Stay with me on this one. So my grandmother, it seems, has a similar fetish with weather. She goes all the way to London to stay with my Uncle and stands at the window staring at the incessant snow fall and sigh, "Hyderabad is also this cold. Maybe a bit colder in the extreme winter months."

So, you see, I don't blame myself. :D

Anyway, why all this ballyhoo? Point is, I just landed in Delhi after a super-awesome beach trip along the whole South-East coast and a few days in Hyderabad. And while the weather there was delicious, a part of me cringed every time I saw news about the Heat Wave in Delhi.
And when I landed here, the Flight crew announced politely that the outside temperature was 44 degrees. At 7 pm in the Evening!
The others winced and I smiled. Touche.

I need to get myself tested, methinks. :-/

*Kissing the ground*
I love you, Delhi!

Hyderabad, you are a pleasant city. It takes immense guts for me to even say that. You really are pleasant. But guess what, you are not Delhi! Forgive me for not ever loving you! :)

Cheers!





Comments

  1. :o Yes yes, you are super weird!
    Hyderabad weather is AWESOME right now! My dad cant stop complaining about how awful Delhi and around are! Phew! Love it!
    Though in May, I assume there was a time when Hyderabad "WON" over Delhi in your version of the competition. * Eye roll*

    ReplyDelete
  2. That was so cute to know your story :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. TheothersideoflifeWednesday, July 04, 2012

    Eehehee..:D
    I will get myself tested! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. TheothersideoflifeWednesday, July 04, 2012

    Hehe..Thanks Simran! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. "The lady would appear and talk about the "Sheet lehar" or cold wave in the North and with shaky fingers point towards a chilling 3 degrees in Delhi. And then the map pans South and there it is. Hyderabad at a pleasant minimum of 18 degrees. Hmmmppphhh. We won again! So what if getting up in the mornings is a punishment. So what is I cant see my school bus from behind the fog. We won because 4 < 18."

    Err ... shouldn't it be 3 < 18? :)

    Why increase it by 1 degree, not grace marks right?! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. no i dont remember the lady been long since i have seen india tele.. but your story is nice :) nice contest ..
    weather her in uk is HOT-COLD-WARM-WET all in one together he he he he

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  7. Firstly lovely post :) Truly entertaining !
    Secondly hyd, I donno wat a city it is ! Experienced Hot-ExtremeHot-Cold-ExtremeCold all in a month !!

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  8. TheothersideoflifeTuesday, July 10, 2012

    Potato, potato! You get the point! :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. TheothersideoflifeTuesday, July 10, 2012

    Lol! Yeah! London weather is famous for other reasons! :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. TheothersideoflifeTuesday, July 10, 2012

    Thanks, Bhargavi! :)
    Hyderabad is weather is good, whatever I may say! Just like saying it to make myself feel nice! :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Why you no write posts now? Karare posts required urgently! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Delhi.. weather.. telll me abt it..it's crazy.. I have a trip planned soon.. I dread... big time.. :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. TheothersideoflifeThursday, July 26, 2012

    Uff..What to do! :(
    College and all! :(

    ReplyDelete
  14. TheothersideoflifeThursday, July 26, 2012

    Sigh..Now even I am saying don't come! Its BAD weather! :O

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hey noice one....u know what the picture u have posted...Ruchika was the director for this Video...and this girl used to work in her TEAM :D

    ReplyDelete
  16. sorry typo.....Use...

    ReplyDelete
  17. TheothersideoflifeWednesday, August 01, 2012

    Arrey wah! Ganish! How did my blog get obliged by your arrival?! :)
    And seriously? What an awesome coincidence! I was one of the most dedicated DD news weather report follower for a long time! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Arpana Ananth-MohanWednesday, August 08, 2012

    Totally agree. I used to do something similar in my head too :)

    ReplyDelete

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