As I write this I so strongly feel as if I'm writing a missing chapter for Santosh Desai's book "Mother Pious Lady".
It is the nastiest part of the year in Delhi. The sweaty, sticky summers when the heat boils you and your body condenses all the steam and sizzle into drops that drip and slip all over it. So I bought a small portable cooler for my room.
Considering the enormous pace at which India's middle class is growing and breaching the levels that define the so called 'middle classness', coolers have reduced to symbols of austerity. It is still not odd to find coolers at homes, but one would mostly find them in the corners that are not ventured into frequently. The journey of coolers from the erstwhile middle class to the contemporary upper middle class is remarkable.
Now just rewind your life to some twelve years back, when the Air Conditioners were looked upon as luxuries of the affluent. Remember the fancy shopping bags that had "Fully air conditioned shop" printed in bold letters upon them? People would flock to the shops to enjoy that gentle and noiseless cooling of the air conditioners, especially because it was free. And the story did not end there. If at all, the stingy middle class woman (not man!) dared to purchase something from the air conditioned shop she would proudly flaunt it in her gossip circle for sometime. Not to forget, the shopping bag would be preserved for sure!
Coolers at that time were the messiahs for the middle class in summers. People who had a cooler in each room were envied. I still remember those summer vacations at home. We did not have a refrigerator at that time so my mother, being a housewife and having the 'jugaad' gene ingrained in her, made an innovative use of the cooler. She used it as a refrigerator! All the summer special delicacies: Flavoured milk, Custard, Mango shake were dearly preserved in that water brimming roof of the cooler. Amused and elated, I used to stare at those colourful glasses full of mango shake, resting royally in a pool of unusually cool water. Remember the odd sound of the pump? It was almost a burp-like sound, which gave me a feeling, that the cooler was mysteriously gulping all the preserved stuff on its roof.
Coolers gave a sense of belonging that was unmatched. My father used to return from his office on a scooter. Smelling of the much touted 'mehnat ka paseena' he would inadvertently sit infront of the cooler. Within minutes the lingering fragrance of the 'khas' consumed his fatigue and the smell of it. I fondly cherish the time, when I would sit infront of the cooler, just to let that gently furious gush of air, rush past my hair and wave them all over my face. At that time, I used to feel no less than the pretty silver screen actress, who was waiting for her prince charming on a picturesque breezy mountain; her hair swinging to and fro her face, much like the clouds that hover over a bright full moon.
Today the ACs have replaced coolers. While ACs are given VIP treatment, by making them adorn, only the bedrooms or the drawing rooms, coolers have reduced to guest house servants. Recall the scene from the movie 'Three Idiots' where Frahan's father proudly declares that only his son's room had an AC. AC is like the rich father who remains away from his children and thinks that his only duty is to help them financially. Cooler is the commoner who may not be rich and advanced but stays close to you and keeps talking to you (Virtually). A cooler is a humble employee, who would walk to its customers to serve them while AC is a sophisticated manager, who wont budge from his cabin and would rather ask his customers to walk to him. A cooler is a little kid, who troubles you by asking for water again and again while AC is a fully grown, expensive to maintain adult. So do you still see the charm in the classical coolers?
