Summers Past

JULY 1999 - We are simply unable anymore it seems, to withstand the summer heat. The very large majority of the people still live out summer the way their fathers and grandfathers did years ago, but to the rest of us, particularly those living in the cities, life without air conditioning is no longer possible. It is now a mystery how we ever did live without air conditioning just as it is no longer possible to remember a time without faxes to help you along.

Not everyone was rich or able to afford air conditioners when they first appeared in Pakistan. In fact they were as rare as honest politicians are now. There were just a few odd ones stuck into windows and for most other people who lived in cities, there was no such animal. All car travel – for those who had them, was undertaken in summer just as routinely as it was in winter. One simply woke up earlier and left earlier before the sun started to melt the roads. Or it was a late afternoon start to escape the scorching summer blast of heat. You simply had to roll down the windows and let the hot air circulate and bring in some relief, but somehow, hot as it was, it was not entirely unbearable. It was also quite the norm to carry ‘gharas’ with water or for those who had made their mark in life, a thermos. Those in between, carried ice boxes and in it were packed all the goodies you needed to survive the journey. The bulk of the people braved the heat in buses or 'tongas' or trains or whatever could transport them from point A to B, without any of the above most times, entirely dependent on the drivers to provide them refreshments at designated stops.

The first cars to arrive with air conditioning, were of course American and these you could spot at city traffic junctions where they would invariably boil over while waiting for the traffic to open in their lane. It was not a good advertisement for the Chryslers, the Studebakers, the Dodges or Packards to be stuck like large whales with the hood open and a cloud of hissing steam hitting the skies. The stoical travellers in 'tongas' meanwhile rolled on with highly bemused expressions on their faces. But then this was a pleasure not made available to them often; there were no more than a handful of cars sporting air conditioners. It was in those early days of high technology that two Pathan brothers from Bannu who had imported a Buick Rocket 88 from the US collected their car on a cold December evening in Lahore and decided to drive back to Bannu. On the way, while searching for the radio knob, one of them accidentally hit a combination of knobs that triggered on the air conditioning. Both were unable to work out how to terminate the flow of freezing air from all sides of the car and froze their way to Bannu, cursing the manufacturers and the car manual of which they could make neither head or tail. With even the humble Suzuki Mehran jumping about with air conditioning one can simply marvel at the way technology has made such strides and imprisoned so many in such a short time.

Houses were, to begin with, not the concrete boxes they are now and have to be, land and construction prices being what they are. Since houses and even offices were built according to the eight months of scorching heat, they were designed to be cool, with thick walls, mud plastering and brick work with minimal cement mixes. Then there were the ventilators, high above at heights of twenty feet, where hot air rising up was simply swept out and replaced by cool air; not quite rocket science you would agree, but very effective. Those who were fortunate, had verandas along the rooms and these were invariably equipped with thick ‘chiks’ that kept the coolness in and the heat out. Of course the curse of wall to wall carpeting had yet to arrive and therefore it was perfectly natural to wash the rooms profusely during the day which would bring the temperature down considerably. While most slept indoors, it was not unusual to sleep out in the open where another ritual was in vogue.

Beds were laid out in single line – there were no foam mattresses in existence and had merely one slightly thick covering or ‘khes’ as it was called. Perhaps one pedestal fan, if at all, was placed at one end and usually sufficed. The general area was given a good dousing in the early evening and fresh ‘motia’ flowers were de rigeur, which greatly helped in creating an atmosphere of lingering freshness, what with the scent of the damp earth mixing with the exotic scent of the ‘motia’. It was air conditioned in a way I suppose. Certainly, most nights it was cool and the early piercing rays of the sun would hit you almost without warning, if a dust storm hadn’t already. Dinner was quite often an outdoor affair, it’s arrival announced by the noise of the trays being loaded in the kitchen and the appearance of plates of fresh cucumbers sprinkled with a touch of salt. Starters. There was always afternoon tea irrespective of the temperature and it was always about the same time – in many homes I should add. It was another happy ritual where families gathered just as they did for afternoon siestas, dinners and the sleep-out. It was good bonding as one would put it now.

Of course it was another age and it has gone, swallowed up in time. It had to go. I cannot imagine how many would simply be able to carry out the hard chores that made that existence possible and even largely comfortable. All that lugging of beds, washing of floors and arrangements are out of the question now. It is much easier to turn a knob a mere inch clockwise and hit the sack. At the start of this decade, working with a company that was about to introduce a phone that worked without a wire - mobile they called it, and a new word in the dictionary here, the absurd claim made was the convenience of getting a telephone connection within twenty four hours (it was taking PTCL 24 years at the time). Actually it took less than 24 minutes but we dropped it. After all who would believe such a preposterous lie same as anyone who would agree that life without a fax, a mobile, a computer, a digital diary and a remote was possible just some years back. As for technology bringing people together – well I have my doubts.