High Temperatures
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 3 Jun 2024
Dr. Ravi P. Bhatia – TRANSCEND Media Service
Very high temperatures are plaguing Delhi — the capital of India. If earlier 43 or 42 degrees were considered high, this year the summer temperatures are going up to 45 or 46 degrees or more.
What are the reasons — is difficult to know, but for whatever reason, the high temperatures are reaching these figures — in fact even higher values of 47 or 48 degrees and are breaking earlier records of high temperatures.
Obviously one finds it difficult to go out of home in such high value temperatures. Fortunately, many homes in Delhi are surrounded by large trees — Neem tree or some fruit tree like mango tree. Sitting at home and even looking at some of these large trees gives a person some relief — mental and physical. I keep looking at some of these trees and their branches and try not to go out of home.
But if I must go out for buying some milk or groceries or fruit, I go out and walk in the shadows of these large trees that have big branches covered with countless number of green leaves. When it is the right time, one can even see some mango fruit ripening on the trees and feel a lot of joy and thankfulness at nature for such sights.
Even if there is no fruit that is visible on the trees, one feels pleasure at such sights. Moreover, walking in the shadows is so much better with lesser temperatures to assist you to walk and enjoy the sights. One can see branches moving under the force of a breeze — even if the breeze is not very forceful.
One sight that we joyfully experience is the sight of squirrels moving around , jumping from one branch to another . Squirrels are strange creatures. A squirrel has a long tail that is as big as its body; the tail helps the squirrel not only to jump but also to help it to know the depth of the tree where it is jumping — a sight that is pleasurable. One would like to know the nest — the home of a squirrel.
However, the nest is usually not visible. It becomes visible if the squirrel has given birth to a baby creature. It is a joy to see how the squirrel is looking after its babies — bringing a morsel or two of food in its beaks and trying to feed the baby squirrels.
As indicated , summer months are hot and harsh for people as well as various creatures ; but the sights of some fruit ripening on the branches and the sight of baby squirrels jumping around and squeaking mildly are memorable occurrences in summer months. Sometimes in addition to squirrels, one can see some other winged creature — a local bird — maina bird on a tree, or a high flying kite coming and resting on a branch.
We should not only speak of hot weather and high temperatures, we should also refer to the other sights — trees and birds and squirrels etc that give us pleasure and help nature to unfold its various aspects. God helps nature and humanity to become a beautiful sight.
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Dr Ravi P Bhatia is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment, an educationist, Gandhian scholar and peace researcher. Retired professor, Delhi University. His new book, A Garland of Ideas—Gandhian, Religious, Educational, Environmental was published recently in Delhi. ravipbhatia@gmail.com
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 3 Jun 2024.
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