Kanpur and its freezing cold winters and scorching hot summers

Life in Kanpur was a sort of revelation for me in many ways. One thing was mobility which was ensured by two wheelers – in the 1960s, two wheelers meant bicycles because motorized two wheelers were the privilege of a select few. One of them was a friend of mine who had received in his dowry. He hailed from Bihar and early marriage in that part of the country was quite common.
Another of my friends bought an old Harley Davidson at an auction and would spend hours repairing it to make it roadworthy. He actually did make it serviceable and would ride it to the factory.
Anyway, Kanpur is well known for its extremes of weather because in winter, the temperature drops to near freezing point while in summer, it would become unbearably hot.
Summer meant air coolers to keep the rooms cool, and, everyone tried to complete all outdoor activities either early in the mornings of in the evenings. If they had to go out during the day, they would have to take precautions – there would be special green mango sherbets available on the roadside shops or lassis. If nothing else, there would be fresh lime sherbets to provide temporary relief from the summer heat.
Then there would be the sudden andhi or dust storms.
I had stayed for a few months in the quarters of J K Colony in Chakeri and saw that during summer, people slept in the open, under the sky. As evening fell, they would bring out their cots (better known as charpois), keep the portable lamp nearby and also an earthen pot of water. Then the radio would be tuned to Vividh Bharti and the families would have their dinner as they listened to the filmi songs. Dinner over, they would retire beneath the mosquito nets.
This schedule was followed by young and old alike – yes, even the newlyweds!!
In winter, the situation changed completely. It was all indoors with the heaters on – those who did not have room heaters would go in for ovens. And – to keep out the cold, the quilts and blankets would come out along with the pullovers, mufflers, monkey caps, gloves – yes, woolen gloves was necessary to ensure that the fingers did not freeze while cycling. (to be continued …)

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