54 is not killer but 45 is killer

It is neither any arithmetical figurative rigmarole not even a day dream what to talk of being a self conceived airy fairy story but on the contra it is an excellent and glaring account of hard facts which simply cannot be challenged or for that matter refuted by anyone be he or she in east or west or south or north to be truly honest to you.

Before I jump to the main subject which is to be discussed in the subsequent lines I would like crave your indulgence and draw your attention to the fact that surprisingly the digits of 4 and 5 are commonly used over here in reverse situation and though there is difference of 9 steps in between the figures of 45 compared with 54 but the result is really very horrifying and terrifying indeed.

During the last month of June, 2015, Kuwait which is a hot country in any case, it had experienced very hot sizzling season just for few days when one fine day the temperature abnormally touched even 54 degrees which is quite unusual in day today sense but nevertheless not even a single person had been reported to have died in Kuwait on the day when it heated up to 54 degrees whereas on the other hand during the same days the temperature was running to 45 degrees instead in Pakistan where quite a sizeable number of  people have died due to heat. Kuwait roads, it must be clarified in the very first instance, are neither covered nor air conditioned or air cooled as one may think of rather all the roads, streets and lanes are exposed to sun exactly like one finds them in India and Pakistan meaning by that all road users in Kuwait face brute brunt of sun heat but yet none even faints what to talk of dying on account of heat strike but regretfully the situation is very much awful in Pakistan, the country I belong to.

First of all in Kuwait road users are either not exposed to sun or may be exposed for a very short while like crossing road or entering an office or shop for that matter. Hardly anyone is seen walking on Kuwait roads whereas none cycles as well so the chances are very much bleak to be exposed to sun whereas in India and Pakistan some economic trodden people are obliged to walk off some distance in any case whereby they face naked sun. Quite a good number of people who do not carry big purse are obliged to do cycling to cover up the distance from house to office or college or shopping or meeting relatives and friends etc which is quite but natural and the poor lot cannot avoid it in any case. Here in Kuwait all buildings whether residential or commercial are either fully air conditioned or at least partially air conditioned and then shops and buses are air conditioned and therefore if anyone is exposed to sun for a while the he or she gets relief by entering any of the places mentioned herein and thus heat effect is neutralized. Regretfully due to poverty situation suck like amenities are not available in Pakistan and therefore there the people do not get any sort of respite from scorching sun and they have to face the brunt.

It must be mentioned that in Kuwait we do see motorcyclists who are fully exposed to sun and do absorb 54 degrees heat in their bodies but nothing to worry at all. They are either riding very expensive motor cycles costing well in four figures as some of their motorcycle are expensive than car so such like motorcyclists are from rich families and they take break to cool them in entering a coffee shop or grocery shop if not a house or office so they are fine riding their motorcycles. The other category of motorcyclist is delivery men supplying food items to the doors who ordered. They leave their air conditioned restaurants and drive short distances and then deliver the food under shade in any case so their exposure to heat is very much limited in any case.

Power shut down is very common which over the passage of time has become quite an ordinary phenomena in Pakistan where the electricity supply is disconnected on daily basis for few hours if not many hours which, as such, added more miseries to the poor lot who just curse their fate for belonging to the have-nots who for very obvious reasons simply cannot even think of what to talk of affording to switch over to a generator when electricity supply is snapped off. One can very well imagine what the hell they must be facing when outside temperature has risen to 45 degrees and there is no electricity in the house to operate the ceiling or pedestal or table fan as the case may be to get some relief. As regards Kuwait, the very phenomena of power shut down is almost very much alien to Kuwaitis and I very well remember that it was 2005 when 1^st time (perhaps) electricity went off for some hours and then Minister of Electricity and Water from the ruling Al Sabah family was too furious and took it as personal insult  and thus he simply could not digest it and took very serious notice of the break down whereby seniors in Ministry of Water & Electricity holding the rank of secretary, chief engineer and manager etc were even terminated from employment what to talk of asking for explanations or forming committee to investigate as to why and how it happened so. However, if at all it happens once in couple of years time, then the power comes back in such a short period of time that the buildings without air conditioning are still cool enough though were without any electricity supply and therefore none grumbles and feels the heat pinch. In my beloved Pakistan none right from President Mamoon and Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif down to engineer none feels guilty knowing that the whole country is facing the shortage crunch simply because they care for themselves and not the people. Very much ironically as and when someone is to be blamed then none but poor linesmen and their supervisors are punished and their seniors are not touched at all.

During the current summer season, about 1300 people have already lost their lives in Pakistan due to hot summer season soaring to 45 degrees but at the same time in Kuwait not a single soul died even though the temperature rose to as high as 54 degrees. God forbid, what had been the scenario, I dare ask, if Pakistan welcomed 54 degrees instead of 45?

Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait