January 18: After playing hookey for about a month, winter's icy grip had the city shivering over the weekend. Out came woollies, gloves, shawls and heaters even as commuters downed windows in trains and buses.The large Sunday crowds thronging Marine Drive and Chowpatty stayed indoors while Mumbai's other seasonal phenomena, the Bhutias, struck gold. Shivering Mumbaites made a beeline for the woollen wear peddled by these migratory entrepreneurs.
Here's the reason for the big freeze. "It's due to the cold winds blowing from the northern direction. These chilly conditions are likely to last for another day," informed Dr B Shyamala, director of the Colaba Weather Bureau. She added that the minimum temperature had dived by 2 to 3 degrees below a normal of around 21 degrees in the last two days.
According to Dr Shymala, these sudden cold spells in Mumbai are a seasonal phenomena occurring whenever there are good systems or weather patterns moving in the northern parts of the country. Mumbai's winters are
dependent on the prevalent conditions in the north winds from the east increase temperature, those from the north cause the mercury to take a dip.
The cold wave, however, failed to deter horses, riders or punters at the Mahalaxmi race course where the Fillies Derby was under way on Sunday afternoon. However, shivering spectators jostled for patches of sunlight in the stands around the race course even as jockeys huddled on their mounts. The Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) hit upon a novel method to warm spectators with a live relay of India's cliff hanger cricket victory against Pakistan in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the cold assault didn't spare the happening crowd at Saturday's Screen Videocon awards in the open air Andheri sports complex.
"It was pleasant in the evening, but as time passed we felt we were sitting in a room with the air conditioner on full blast," said a member of the audience.
While a majority of the audience were left wishing they had traded fashionable party wear for
utilitarian woollens, for others even three-piece suits offered scant protection in the open.
From Shobha De to Tom Alter, audiences at a premiere show of the smash play The Mousetrap seemed to have been forewarned, preferring pullovers and cardigans to party wear. They made a beeline for piping hot tea and coffee during the interval giving the soft drink man the cold shoulder.
At the other end of the scale, truck and taxi drivers and night watchmen could be spotted huddled around open fires around the city, while auto drivers wrapped in blankets drove around like ghosts.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
