CHENNAI: It is that time of year when Chennai struggles with one of its most infamous aspects. Summer is here. The visual signs of summer in Chennai have arrived, leaving no one in doubt, not even those who sleep in air-conditioned rooms, travel in air-conditioned cars and work in air-conditioned offices.From the thousands of watermelon and slender cucumber sellers who have staked their claim to the city’s pavements and policemen in rounded pith helmets to people snoozing in shady areas and ice cream pushcarts going around the city with increased vigour, the city is once again a veritable visual aid for the concept of tropical summer.“It is really hot,” puffed a woman draped from head to toe with a dupatta and wearing elbow length gloves, displaying barely any skin. Dressed in a manner that would have done the Taliban proud, she didn’t take any of it off till the watermelon vendor handed her a ten-rupee bowl of diced fruit.Summer brings startling displays of ingenuity, mostly from vendors peddling summer products. Bullock carts are turned into roving watermelon, mango and cucumber stalls, hawkers selling cheap sunglasses and hats walk around like overdressed mannequins and ice-cream vendors and gola sellers cut to the chase as they simply scream, “Ice!”The summer means ever increasing crowds at the city’s beaches in the evening. Forced to stay indoors during the day and with schools shut, many make regular trips to the beach to catch a bit of breeze.“It is more convenient for us to use hats in summer. We usually stop somewhere for fruit juice or tender coconut and change our headgear as the day progresses. But we switch back to our peaked caps during evening patrols,” said a police constable whose station is responsible for security along a part of Marina Beach. “For some reason, people take us more seriously when we are wearing our caps,” he adds, grinning.Conspicuous by their summer-only presence are the thousands of bicycle-mounted Nallai pazhachaaru (Nellai mixed fruit juice) vendors. Some of them fall back on other professions through the year, but rely on the thick orange concoction during summer. “I am not a fruit juice seller,” insists David, a Nellai mixed fruit juice seller. “I am an electrician in the morning. After around 11am I start selling the juice. It is seasonal and we make a good profit,” he explains.And if all these visual cues are not enough, run a finger across your forehead. No matter what time of day it is and no matter where you are, you are likely to find a thin film of perspiration covering your finger. If even that is not enough to confirm to you the onset of summer, maybe you need to go to Rajasthan.
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