KEEPING COOL IN SUMMER
KEEPING COOL IN SUMMER
Nikunja
Bihari Sahu
With the unkind sun pouring its fiery rays incessantly
and the sweltering summer boiling down to awesome woes and agony for life, the
quest for keeping cool is on. Although prevalent devices like air-conditioners,
coolers and refrigerators are the first choice, there seems to be no respite
from the sizzling heat. Under the circumstances, we discuss below few
traditional cooling practices of people which are still very popular in our villages.
Water from a Surai (an earthen pot having
a long narrow neck) is the most cherished drink in villages on a hot summer
day. Drops of water seeping through the
numerous pores on the earthen walls got evaporated from its outer surface
absorbing the heat (Latent Heat) from the stored water. This evaporation
produces cooling. The technology is simple, eco-friendly and affordable. Its
cool water refreshes and rejuvenates the body and has a calming effect on the
mind which makes Surai water an elixir for health. It has several advantages over a Water-cooler
or a Refrigerator. The cooling in a Surai
is mild and just the amount needed by the body unlike the ice-cold chill water
of a refrigerator that may cause various ailments like cold and throat
infection. Moreover, the water from the Surai has a characteristic pleasant earthen flavour
that makes it so appeasing for taste. Therefore, Surai water is capable of
quenching thirst of a thirsty person unlike the frigid water of a refrigerator which
you may drink as many glasses as you like only to remain insatiable. Moreover, if one is using a refrigerator, the fundamental
question remains where to place the device in your home. If you keep it inside
the room you live in, the heat released by the Compressor makes the room hotter.
But Surai has no such problem as it can be placed anywhere and anytime. So
let’s take a cue from our tradition and keep a Surai at home to enjoy the cool
water in summer.
Similarly, a house made of straw and mud
is cooler in summer than a building made of bricks and concrete. The mud
walls and the straw roof of the house are efficient insulators of heat that
don’t allow outside heat to enter into the house. On the other hand, the concrete
roof and brick walls of a building are good conductors of heat that makes these
houses vulnerable to the flow of heat from outside that makes them uncomfortable in
summer. Running an air-conditioner inside the house indeed produces cooling,
but it has to be operated at top speed to neutralise the effect of heat
constantly entering into the house through the conducting walls and roof. Over
operation of the air-conditioner produces excessive cooling which is not good
for health. People living in such a house are at risk of falling sick to cold and other respiratory
tract infection diseases. On the other hand, the coolness produced in a straw
house is natural, soothing to the body and has no side-effect. One can live in
such a house for days together without much botheration. One would also get
plenty of natural air in such a house through the doors and windows whereas in
an air-conditioned building, natural fresh air is a dream as the doors and
windows are always kept closed to prevent the escape of cool air. Hence, one
cannot live in such a house for long. It is wise to first shield the very route
of the entry of heat into the building before planning to install an air-conditioner
system inside it. In this regard, we can also look back to our traditional practice
and cover the roof of our building with
straw to prevent the inflow of heat.
Traditionally, people used to hang mats made of the roots of
the plant Khas-khas and Bena soaked with water
at the doors and windows. As wind blows through them, the tiny water droplets
clung to their surface got evaporated taking away the heat. This promotes cool breeze
blowing into the house.
Going by the traditional way, we can also make our bed
time worry-less by sprinkling cold water (preferably taken
from a Surai) all around the body and sleeping under the fan. As water is
evaporated, heat is constantly drained away from the body produces the cooling.
However, as the speed of the heat waves through the concrete roof by conduction
process is very slow, the heat received by the roof during the day-time reaches
inside the house at night making the ambience uncomfortable. Hence, all efforts to dissipate the heat at
night prove futile. Villagers have a simple solution for that. They prefer
outdoors and sleep under the open star-lit sky amidst the natural breeze
lashing all around. In this respect, we can also learn a lesson from our
traditional style and plan our bed at the open (preferably on the roof terrace)
to make our slumber really memorable.
What we eat and drink in summer are
also important criteria for keeping cool. Drink water sufficiently and
frequently. You feel cooler if you perspire faster and allow as much evaporation
of water from the body. Adding Mint or Tulsi leaves or Lemon juice to water
makes it more appetizing that prompts a person to drink more. Although various
soft drinks and ice-creams are in vogue these days to counter the heat, their
cooling action is only short-lived for the body. On the other hand, we can learn lesson from our ancestors and take
plenty of home-made and natural
drinks like coconut water, sugar-cane juice, butter-milk, Torani (watery
extract from the partially fermented rice Pakhala) to supplement the loss of
water from the body and ensure more perspiration, evaporation and cooling. We can also take a lot of watery fruits
cultivated in our villages like Water-melon, Cucumber and Tala saja (seed
of Palm tree) that retain water inside the body for a quite long time. Eventually, this water comes out of the body
through sweating and produces cooling due to evaporation over a sustained
period.
Education
Officer
Regional Science Centre
Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Marg
Bhbaneswar-751013
Phone-8018708858
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