This season the city was up and running in the 'heats' stage itself with the mercury touching 35.5 degrees Celsius on February 22, and even night temperatures offered little relief, as they too were 3-4 degrees above normal. The tempo continued, thanks to the elusive Mango showers, which played truant like Bangalore’s very own king of good times – Vijay Mallya.
Studies reveal that in first decade of 21st century the city lost 76% of vegetation cover (which got replaced by concrete cover) and suffered a 79% decline in water bodies, which is now taking its toll on its much vaunted salubrious weather.
Right now the much sought after magical figure is 40 and though the current 37ish may be good enough, we have even bested many of our rival cities - notably Chennai, but the yeh dil maange more craving persists.
The antennae of the city's start ups have sensed a huge market and they are installing small automatic weather stations across the city to record temperature and other data on a hyper local basis. Hence now we get to know which is warmer - Jayanagar or Hebbal, where your armpits are bound to sweat more – Koramangala or nearby Madiwala, all on your smartphone screens.
The other day weather app guys jumped the gun and announced that we have indeed achieved the nirvana (40 degrees), only to be scotched by weathermen from Indian Meteorological Department, who said not yet. Hence amid beads of sweat the wait continues over copious amounts of tender coconut water, fresh juices and not to forget the staple drink of this pub city - which helps us see the big 'pitcher'!
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