Afraid to Brave the Heat

I should have been at Roldih last evening. At least that was the plan till yesterday. But my guests left just before noon instead of early morning and it so it got too late for me to leave Bolpur. I had no intentions of driving through the afternoon heat and arrive at the project after nightfall.

I did mull with the thought of leaving early this morning. But realized that I'd probably reach the project a few minutes before Fran, Hannah and Kaori would the project. And since the idea of going to the project was to meet them and discuss their stay on the project, a late arrival with a few minutes to spare, would be a waste of effort. So I stayed back. Tomorrow is a holiday on the project and I'd be just hanging around. Might as well hang around in Bolpur where I many things to occupy my mind.

I will be going to Roldih one of these days. But now that the urgency to go and meet the volunteers there is no longer a driving imperative, I will probably go a few days later and hopefully the weather too will have improved by then. It's simply too hot these days. In fact, I wouldn't be exaggerating if I say that Bolpur was cooler when I arrive in July than today, when we are already in the autum months. The rains have completely failed this region this year.

When you drive out, you do see green paddy fields. But that's because in West Bengal many farmers have tubewells for irrigation. Cross over into Jharkhand and except for isolated patches of green, the land is lying fallow. It's going to be a miserable year for farmers for sure. It's really been a bad year... rains where you don't need it... floods where you don't expect rain... and no rain where everything depends on it.

Anyway, succinctly put. It's too damn hot to go on a 5-hour drive at my age. I'll wait for it to get cooler. No point killing myself when the need for me at the project isn't so desperate. But I am desperate for good weather. I keep waiting for the weather to improve so that I could explore my immediate surroundings. I've been bitten by the shutter bug and I want to take some photos. But given the heat and the humidity, venturing out is a daunting task. And I'm not that brave.