Windswept Wanderings

I’m sorry but that’s thinking way too small, hear me out:

We need to have Miss Piggy as Odysseus, and Kermit as Penelope.

Think about it… who’s the more fickle, prideful, warlike one in that relationship? Who is absolutely ready to go ham, at a moment’s notice?

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

In a country where politicians spend billions to make their children study in the best schools abroad, students work day and night to sit an exam that gets cancelled because of the government's incompetency, then the exam is rescheduled only for the results to be wrong.

Exam papers were wrongly printed, answer sheets had no space for certain questions, correct answers were marked as incorrect. All because of the education government's inability to correctly print 22 million sets of paper. Students used to getting an A+ got a D on the NEET because their answers were graded incorrectly.

And this isn't just about NEET. Many other government exams faced similar issues in 2025-2026.

Many students killed themselves due to all of this.

"Oh they could just request a re-check or resit it" -- that costs 100,000+ INR. A lot of students who sit such exams are from middle or lower class families, some even from families under the poverty line. They cannot afford such solutions, and even if they can, it often takes months or years to get a proper solution.

And when we tried to just peacefully protest all of this? The Delhi police spent days beating students from ages 6 to 26 with batons, sticks (with nails in them), bats, electric batons, pellet guns, tear gas, and more. Students have been detained, arrested, beaten up till their head is covered with blood. All for standing together peacefully with books in their hands and justice on their tongue. All for hosting a peaceful protest that is one of our constitutional rights.

India has had enough. Gen Z Indians have had enough. We are fighting for our rights not just in Jantar Mantar (Delhi) but almost every other major city in India. Yet the media hides this. Bollywood largely remains silent on this matter as well.

If global stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aliyah Bhatt and Deepika Padukone even made one instagram post on the matter they could propel this movement to new heights. But they don't care. BJP doesn't care. Our education minister who refuses to resign certainly doesn't care either.

The government calls us anti-national. The police call students terrorists for walking the streets. During such times we need all the support we can get.

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Summer heat is one of the main environmental sources of injury, illness and death. And as the global average temperature and extreme summer heat rise every year, more people will be affected worldwide by extreme heat every year.

This post is a shorter version of the original post, Climate Change, Deadly Heat and You, so if you want to take a deeper dive into the science of extreme heat check out that post.

To start off, here's a graphic I made recently of increasing temperatures in Houston, Texas over the past 125+ years. What's important about this graphic is what comes with it, warmer average temps mean hotter heat waves.

It's not just the high temperature of a heat wave that kills, it's the nighttime highs. Warmer nights keep people from recovering from the heat, and put them at a worse position to cope with the heat the next day.

The Basics of Being Hot!

The main source of heat is the sun.  Solar radiation reflects off the ground, is also absorbed by the ground, then re-radiated back into the air. The balance between the environment and heat retained by your body is shown in the picture below.  

In summary, a hot environment adds heat to your body, while evaporation of sweat takes heat away. (In extreme cold, this operates in reverse! Radiation, conduction and convection remove heat from your body.)

Evaporation of sweat is the second most effective way your body cools itself-- the most effective way to cool yourself is by behavior, or the things you do to keep yourself cool.

Your body wants to run at an even temperature, not too hot, not too cold, usually around 37C / 98F.  The part of your brain called the hypothalamus monitors your body temperature, and when it gets too hot, it sends a signal to your sweat glands to start sweating.

As your skin sweats, the sweat evaporates off your body.  When the sweat on your skin evaporates, it requires energy to change from a liquid into a vapor.  The energy that drives that change is the heat from your body.  Thus energy is taken out of your body and you are cooled. Of course, the higher the humidity, the less effective this mechanism works.

The figure below is a great conceptual drawing that shows the combined effect of evaporation and convection.  Heat is taken out of your body by evaporation, and a breeze, further enhancing your cooling by convection, carries the warm vapor away.

When it’s very hot outside, or very humid, or you are working hard, or you can’t sweat for some reason, then evaporation is less effective, and your internal body temperature starts to rise.  This eventually leads to hyperthermia and heat illness.

Let me repeat the most important concept -- The MOST effective way to cool yourself is by behavior - doing the things that help keep you cool. Things like drinking cold water, turning on a fan, going into an air-conditioned space on a hot day, and so forth. Hard to put that into an equation. :)

How heat makes you sick

The health effects of heat fall in a range from minor symptoms to life threatening illness.  Any of these conditions could be caused by extreme exertion, but they are all made much worse by hot, humid weather.

The table below summarizes the range of heat illness.  The basic treatment for all of these is rapid cooling by whatever means possible, from going inside, to cool drinks, to draping with cold wet cloths, to ice packs in key places, to immersion in ice water.

Please note, medical information shown in this article is for illustrative purposes only and does not constitute medical advice to the reader.  Please ask your doctor or other health professional if you have further questions.

Spectrum of Heat Illnesses*

ProblemSigns & SymptomsCauseTreatmentHeat CrampsMuscle cramps with exertionDehydration caused by exercise, heat, or bothStretching, rehydration, rest Ease back into activityExercise Associated CollapseWarm skin Sweaty Low blood pressure Fainting at the end of a period of strenuous exerciseWhen you stop exercising your heart slows down Blood vessels are still dilated so your blood pressure drops Blood flow to brain drops Leading to fainting Quick recoveryMake sure it’s not something else! (e.g. stroke, heart attack, etc.) Shade, rest, cold water Recovery should be rapid, if not then transport to hospitalHeat Exhaustion / Heat InjuryWeakness Warm to hot skin, but can also be cool and clammy Profuse sweating Rapid heart beat (>100) Elevated core temperature (38.3 – 40C /101 – 104F)** NOT confused or deliriousDehydration and elevated core temperature result in weakness and rapid heart beat Eventual decreased blood flow to kidneys and other organs may cause damageRapid cooling Go to the hospital, especially if prolonged or extreme episodeHeat StrokeHot, flushed/red, skin that is usually dry IS confused, stumbling, dizzy, delirious Core temperature >=40.5C/105F** Altered mental status Unconsciousness Pending deathAs above, and... Prolonged reduced blood flow to brain and vital organs leading to deathA life-threatening emergency!  Ambulance to the nearest hospital Start cooling immediately while waiting for ambulance* O’Conner, et al., Exertional heat illness in adolescents and adults: Epidemiology, thermoregulation, risk factors and diagnosis, in UpToDate.com, last updated May 13, 2026. ** Core temperature is measured by rectal thermometer.  Other methods will read about a degree or more cooler than true temp

First Aid for Heat Exposure

The most important and obvious thing to do for someone who is suffering from extreme heat is to COOL THEM OFF! Here are some techniques to accomplish that...

Stopping all activity and resting

Siting or laying in the shade, or going inside

Drinking cold, water or better yet, diluted sports drink (a little sugar helps them to absorb the water into their bloodstream -- in other words, it helps them to hydrate!)

Cold water spray and fans (Note: This may not work in very hot and/or humid environments!)

Putting ice packs on the neck, arm pits and groin (all the places where blood flow is the highest)

Draping them in cold, ice water-soaked towels and sheets

Immersing in cold water or ice water (Immersion requires at least two people to monitor the victim, one to keep them from going underwater should they lose consciousness, and the other to check vital signs and do other tasks)

If the heat illness is serious you should call for an ambulance while you are cooling them down.  If you are in a remote area or are unable to get an ambulance for whatever reason, stop cooling when they start shivering, or after about 15 – 20 minutes of aggressive cooling.  Ideally you would stop cooling them when their rectal temperature drops to 38C / 101F.

Some important points to remember about heat illness…

You can’t always tell how bad it is just by looking at someone

Call for an ambulance early or take them to the hospital if you are concerned

The longer a person’s core temperature is elevated, the worse the outcome

Rapid cooling is the cornerstone of treatment

Protect Yourself from Extreme Heat

Government action is important to protect society as a whole, and to protect those who are more vulnerable.  But society's preparedness also rests on you, the individual.  There is plenty you can do to protect yourself and your family. And remember, your behavior is the number one method for protecting yourself from extreme heat.

Protecting yourself from extreme heat starts with changing your behavior during heat waves, and may eventually involve moving to a cooler climate.  The measures you take will differ depending on your personal risk factors and your available resources.

Some steps to take to prepare for a heat wave or even just hotter summer months...

Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, even if you don't feel thirsty

Seek air-conditioned spaces during the hottest parts of the day

Wear light, loose-fitting clothing and a hat when outdoors. Sunscreen does NOT protect you from the heat, it only protects exposed skin from sun damage. I like sun shirts from Huk! (Not an affiliate link, just great sun clothes I wear almost every day.)

Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat hours

Check on vulnerable friends, family, and neighbors during heat waves (the elderly, people living alone, people with chronic disease, etc.)

Learn the signs of heat illness and how to respond (from above!)

Some things you may do over the long term...

install heavy curtains or reflective film over windows that get a lot of sun. Rejecting sun light and heat is super helpful to keep inside temps down

make sure your air conditioner is in good working order, whether a window unit or central air for your house

tighten up gaps that leak air in your house, otherwise you are working to cool the air outside!

make sure your refrigerator is in good condition. clean the coils, make sure air can circulate around it

have backup power to run fans, window air-conditioners, or your whole house A/C, and your fridge

make a "climate safe" room in your house. this is one room that is better insulated than other parts of your house or apartment

make a personal "heat wave plan". I just thought this up. If people can have a plan for other disasters, why not for a heat wave?!

have an emergency fund of money - get your finances in order. Haven't talked about his in a long time, but it's super important!

start thinking about eventually moving or retiring North

As our climate continues to warm, we must consider heat waves a major threat to our health and homes. By understanding the risks, taking personal precautions, and supporting community-wide adaptations, we can reduce the impact of extreme heat on our wellbeing.

Do you have any ideas about how to beat the heat? Put them in the comments below. Thank you.

Stay cool, stay safe, and remember: we're all in this together as we face the challenges of a warming world.