Rising rising

Most people, I repeat, most people living in Qatar wouldn't have even noticed. But the mercury is rising. And I am about to live through the second of the two worst summers I have witnessed in my life as of yet.

Does it get any hotter than this? Any more humid?

It couldn't. Sit inside a steamed sauna for 15 minutes, and imagine, if that is how thick the air was outside, you'll know what I'm talking about.

I'm exxagurating, but just the fact that when I sit inside the sauna in my gym and wonder, Fuck, just a little thinner, and that's how Qatar's gonna be in the coming months, is enough to assure me, it's just short of trying to breathe underwater in the peak summer months in this desert country.

42 degrees. Sure, Delhi gets there. But no, the 42 degrees here means 60 in Delhi - the humidity. It's killing.

On the main roads, there ain't a soul around. Just pieces of man-made machinery on wheels zipping past on empty silent roads, gradually turning into wavey mist as they reach the Mirage you see in the distance.

The humans inside, form 'most' of the population of Qatar. They're rich and intelligent. They absolutely never face the sun's wrath here.

Inside town, the lives don't change, be it December or May. Only now, they're not wearing a sweater and the drops of sweat continue to sneak out from behind their ears, some of them dying to cling on to the eyelashes. They don't crib. They might be intelligent but not rich enough. The sun is their roof.

Then there's me, 25 - rich and stupid. I've walked to virtually everywhere in the city, hot or cold. Such is the arrogance (read: stupidity) I don't like anyone noticing that I might be suffering outside in the heat, not even the cab drivers. I rarely put my hand out to stop them. Instead, I wait for them to honk, till then I pretend as if I'm humming a song, assuring him that I saw the empty cab, but I coulnd't care if he stopped.

I'll continue walking.

I'm not stupid. I see more than those that zip past in cars. I notice a lot more. I look around. Enter shops that I find interesting. I find stories to write about. I find untrodden paths, roads that lead to my office or home.

There, I find some more stories.

In one year here, I know a lot more about this place, than people who've lived here a decade.

It's never hot enough. It can never be, not for me. The sun's my soulmate. I look up every morning, and challenge it. It self-assures me of my strength.

And how I survive kilometers-long walks is a very simple thing. The mantra is made up of just three things.

1) Find roads, which aren't straight enough that your sight can reach too far to remind you how long the road is.

2) Choose paths that go through a busy market, where there's life, where you can see things/people, and where people can see you.

And the most important one... 3) Take one step at a time. Don't think of the distance or how far you have to go. Just remember, your destination is just one more step further. That's it.

This is how I walk...

through my journey...

of life.

It can never get hot enough, not for me.