Climate Change
The greatest impediment to my research in Cambodia today is the relentless heat. I can't stay out at the temples as long as I could even three years ago. Climbing 900-year-old temple stairs is now much more dangerous, because, when the temperature nears 100 F., I’m less alert. And I have less patience.
We humans are all the same species - Homo sapiens. And as Homo sapiens, we all have the same problems. With the research grant from the Victoria and Albert I was able to return to India, after 45 years. My first stop was Ahmedabad. Very hot, even before climate change. How do they cope?
Firstly, everyone wears cotton. Beautiful cotton. Bold, and colorful, in designs unique to Gujarat. Block printed, embroidered, tie-dyed or ikat. Left, a woman sitting on her front porch in old Ahmedabad. Center, an upscale shop selling cotton tunics, pants, skirts and scarves. Or, for special occasions, they wear silk. Right, a pretty bride.
And everyone drinks tea. But they drink it differently than we do. In smaller cups, but more often. I think this helps to beat the heat. And it’s traditionally served in unglazed clay cups - completely biodegradable. No styrofoam, no paper, no litter. Some people drink herbal supplements that they say help them to keep cool.
My tuk-tuk driver took me to a Jain temple where the entrance is at ground level, but the temple itself is a story and a half below ground. So much cooler! At the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum the director’s office is below ground, but pleasant and inviting because of the way it has been integrated into the main building - with a wide staircase and well-designed lighting.
Instead of a hotel, I’d booked a homestay. It was situated on two residential parcels. One had been zoned as greenspace; my host owned it, but had been required to plant it. His trees helped to cool the entire neighborhood, because they were huge - the parcel had been zoned as greenspace more than fifty years ago!
My homestay was in a Hindu neighborhood. I’d arrived in the middle of the night. The next morning, just as the sun began to rise, birds and squirrels began to appear. Everywhere. I had never seen so much wildlife in the middle of a city.
In California my neighbors spray insecticide all around the foundations of their houses, and don’t keep their house cats inside. Populations of abandoned cats are not managed successfully. Our birds and butterflies are rapidly disappearing - but no one seems to notice.
In Ahmedabad, wild creatures are cherished. And have been, for centuries. Birds are fed every morning - in homes, in neighborhoods, and in public spaces. Buildings are constructed with “parrot holes” - nesting holes in the exterior walls to compensate for the lack of trees. In this huge city I didn’t see one rat; I think the hawks keep the population in check. It seemed to me that the environment was not out of whack. Hindus and Jains just don’t kill anything. What could be simpler than that?
Above left, a community bird feeder (ladder on the left side). Grain is collected from each family. Center, a public feeding area outside of Bhadra Fort. Right, a parrot hole in Bhadra Fort - wildlife conservation 614 years ago!