Where Them 6 Seasons At?
Welcome to Dhaka, the land of eternal summer. Where the weather is warm and the sun is smiling and the birds are out and about. Except that's putting it mildly.
Parched leaves, sweaty foreheads, super-tanned skin, itchy red heat rash and panting dogs are the general scenario year round. One could say it's a desert without being an actual desert. It's October and still 30 degrees outside. While in other countries the red-orange foliage is announcing the arrival of blustery weather, mild cold fronts and shorter days, in Dhaka the only indication that it is THEORITICALLY autumn is the roadside kashphools that seemed to have magically mushroomed last week after the too-late-to-arrive monsoon showers.
Did someone say fall? Hold on, stop right there. A bunch of wild flowers suitable for clichéd couple photos should not get you excited for fall. Breaking out the beanies and shopping for an entire "sweater weather" wardrobe is unnecessary and a drain on your wallet because the sun is still glaring down at you hard like your mom when you "forget" to show her your test papers. Why clothing brands here even bring out fall collections is a mystery to me. Don't even get me started on the pumpkin craze. People please, we don't have fancy food ideas and the only way we know how to eat pumpkins is in torkari.
If you live in the top floor like me, good luck keeping your electricity bills in check. It seems every year the number of dog days gets larger. Honestly I am not surprised, the amount of trees in Dhaka city are reduced to the withering road divider plants.
The most noticeable change in seasons is during monsoon when clear blue skies give away to a grey expanse of clouds. Even though it quenches the heat bringing much needed relief and provides the perfect mood for doing nothing, it is a nuisance to those outdoors, given Dhaka's nice drainage system. Just last week I had to wade through knee deep water when the sewers overflowed after a heavy downpour. I swear it is the scariest thing ever because you never know when a misstep might plunge you to your death in a pothole, given Dhaka's nice roads.
Winter barely lasts two months and even so, you don't feel the perfect chill in your bones unless you take a trip to the outskirts. This is the only season when I see most Dhakaites cheerful (badminton and pithas galore), no winter blues here buddy. But it's so short that it ends before you even finish winter shopping. I have had the same winter wardrobe for the last 5 years...
Basically, summer graces Dhaka all year long with a chunk of monsoon and a dash of winter thrown into the mix. Seriously, where are the six seasons that we, as kids, memorized by heart?