The great Indian summer in pictures

Hindustani

Most of India is experiencing hot weather and though showers have brought temperature down in some parts,
the harsh May sun has made life difficult for ordinary Indians, especially those who work on the street.

Barf ka Gola. In this photograph, the Buddhist children in Himachal Pradesh are relishing this desi ice candy. Don't you remember your childhood and the joy of eating this 'barf ka gola'.

Nearly two crore Indians travel by trains every day and railway journey becomes an ordeal in the season. The picture here shows passengers using the window of train compartment to get in and out of rail.

Of course, it is more a problem in the second class and the general compartment. But that's the real India, isn't it!

Typically Indian. Surely a nice picture to look but none of us would like to be in such a packed train. Will you? But what's the option when you have no option to travel.

The Indian railway takes you everywhere in the country and though the bogey may be overcrowded, the fellow passengers somehow manage and give the speace after squirming a bit, at least in the lower classes.

Even the animals are feeling the heat this year.

In this photograph on the left, the elephant is being fed the watermelon. That's a photo from Patna where the jumbo is eating the 'tarbooz', which I am sure, succeeded in refreshing the elephant up.

The animals don't have the coolers, fans and ACs and they are the worst sufferers. As a result of the global warming and rising temperature, the animals appear in a state of panic.

Of course, there are a few lucky ones like the sniffer dogs employed by police and other armed forces. They enjoy all the comforts and are kept in air-conditioned dens. Also some tigers, lions and other big cats in zoos and national parks for whom coolers have been installed, have this luxury.

I had a tough time persuading any rickshaw-wallah in Lucknow to take me to the locality where my relative stayed as it was quite far and nobody seemed in a mood to face the blazing sun.

In this picture, which is from Punjab, the rickshaw-walas sleep under a shed even though the harsh sun rays penetrate in. Still, the 'mehnat-kash' have snatched their siesta.