Chennai does have a winter

Chennai's serious approach to winter, influenced by Bangalore's weather and historical references to cold temperatures in Madras.

Did Madras take its winter as seriously as Chennai? There are references to cold weather in the month of Margazhi (Dec/Jan) and of the falling of pani (dew) which must be the closest we can get to snow. But Chennai has not given up hope. In fact, given by the preparations that go on for the Chennai winter, it would seem we are forever awaiting that great Arctic freeze to happen.

There seem to be two principal reasons for our taking our winter this seriously – the ambient temperature for eleven months of the year, and our proximity to Bangalore. Let us analyse both these in some detail. Chennai, being in the plains and at sea level, hardly sees variation in temperature the year round. There is not much difference between day and night temperature and excepting May/June, when it has a tendency to rise much higher, temperature remains in the 30s. We are therefore used to that constant range and when it dips into the 20s in December we feel the cold. Of course humidity, which is forever high here and contributes to what is unofficially known as the wind grill factor, dips in December as well. And we think we are Eskimos.

Proximity to Bangalore is the second and perhaps bigger driving factor. Chennai’s political leadership may want to us become Singapore, which we can aim for if they stop disfiguring walls with posters, but our people are forever looking at Bangalore. Though we may poke fun at their traffic jams and rejoice when they run out of water, we are not happy that that sleepy cantonment town suddenly zoomed ahead of us and became a megapolis. We think the growth was only because of the weather factor. Take away the good weather in Bangalore and what have you? Therefore we live in hope that we too will one day have Bangalore-like weather. Of course there are some in Chennai who will say Bangalore weather is arthritic and so give us this day our daily sweat.

Those who live in hope for a real winter in Chennai point with some mournful pride at a highly disputed fact – that for one day in April 1815 temperature in Madras did drop to below freezing. But that required a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. And that can at best be classified as a freak weather phenomenon. But there is no harm in aspiring for big things.

And so come November, you will find Chennai girding itself for a long, dark, winter. The first signs are the arrival of earmuffs, preferably of a leopard pattern. These are worn during morning walks and also during motorcycle rides, presumably to keep the icy winds at bay. As November, if it has not disgraced itself with cyclones and floods, gives way to December, we progress to mufflers. Those who sport them generally move onto monkey caps by end December. The etymology of that name is not clear but when you see someone wearing it you get a fair idea as why it was termed so. Monkey caps are seen from around Christmas and remain part of haute Madras couture till mid Jan when with Pongal, our winter fades. There are some who however observe cold weather till March or so and you can smell them miles away.

The December Season is divided into two sections – music and the dance. The former observes winter by means of angavastrams drawn over the ears and head if male, and a woollen shawl if female. But to see real winter wear in all its chic glory, you need to attend dance festivals. Then we see pashminas, shah toosh and so on, combined with talk on sringara rasa to raise the temperatue. And to see Chennai really braving the winter you need to attend the margazhi masam bhajanai around the temples. There the devout, with covered heads and yellow shawls will walk, bearing amidst snow and ice the harmonium. They are revived from hypothermia at the end of their exertions with piping hot Pongal.

A few decades ago, such a lot of winter wear in Chennai was unheard of. Nowadays people are forever on the move. Everybody goes to the U.S. these days and there they see snow boots, gloves and woollen socks on sale and on an impulse buy everything up. The argument is that it will come in useful someday. And that day comes around in December. A slight nip in the air, the kind of day that passes of as a heatwave in Europe and we recall our last U.S. trip purchases. Out with the muffler and the gloves and the galoshes and let us get going with pretending it is winter.