Weather and moods

Most psychology studies are done in developed countries where summer is considered a good thing (blech) and winters are depressing. Pan camera to Mumbai where summers will get you assuredly pissed and the onset of rains just makes you go woo hoo! Well, it's time we did some research. I really need to know what the effect of weather has on your body and mind. And why!

Some quotes:

Humidity, temperature, and hours of sunshine had the greatest effect on mood. High levels of humidity lowered scores on concentration while increasing reports of sleepiness.

How true! How true!

Another study by Sanders and Brizzolara (1982) on 30 college students also found similar findings — that high humidity was a predictor for lack of vigor, elation, and affection.

The proof tightens.

People who get to spend time outdoors in temperatures near 72 degrees F (22 degrees C) tend to be happier and also have better memory than  those who spend time outdoors in less optimal conditions, or those who consistently stay indoors in nice weather.

Yeah ok I can deal with 22 degrees.

Researchers have surmised that there is a definite connection between hot temperatures and aggression.

This explains why the most peaceful and liberal countries are Scandinavian!

The perfect temperature, according to the University of Michigan, is 72 degrees. Any temperature higher or lower than 72 degrees is likely to affect your mood.

Is this why people in Bombay are likely to be pissed off all the time?

I found no studies specifically for India or people living close to the tropics, so I guess we wont know what our weather really does to us (unless we believe a new survey that says weather has little or no effect on us at all!). But this is what I get from it.

There seems to be a perfect temperature at which we work most productively. This temperature may be different from person to person, but is statistically around 22 degrees centigrade. At this temperature (and at normal humidity of say 50%), we are awake and aware, ready to take on the world.

The hotter it gets, the more aggressive you get. And I can totally relate to this! The last two weeks of summer were awful for me, with the highest levels of irritability. I was constantly having mood swings and I couldn't figure why, though somewhere I did suspect the weather to be the culprit.

The more humid it gets, you start losing concentration and feeling sleepy. Your appetite goes up. Basically, you feel like doing everything that reads "lazy"! All you want to do is stay in bed. I think the whole romantic notion comes from the linkages your mind makes: lazy - bed - sex. Your brain suddenly releases oxytocin and BAM! You're feeling romantic! (Note: This is only my theory and I couldn't find any research to support it!)

The rains have just started and all I feel like doing is going out and getting wet in the rain! The whole of last week, while I waited for summer to get over, I lost appetite and felt horrible. I'm back to wanting to hog now! Food mission, I'm back in action!

Rajasthan trip - The quaint town we all love!

15 Jan 2009 People: Alpana, Chandan, Gayatri, Vedant, Fahim.

It was the day we had to leave. We had a young college going group staying in the room next to ours. When we met them in the morning, one of them said to me, "So, you guys had a party last night!" and I said, "Yeah! You heard, eh?". And the guy went, "Yeah. All of Jaisalmer heard!". And that pretty much summed up our drinking night! Woo hoo!

We had a train to catch at 1600 hrs and so we had half a day to look around some more of Jaisalmer. We'd read about some excavation area near the Jain temple and decided to have a looksy. We took a rickshaw and while on our way, it started pouring! We couldn't believe that it was raining in Jaisalmer! And not even a drizzle. This was rain! And it was winter!

Well the excavation spot was a disappointment, coz we didn't know exactly what was excavated. There were no signs, no boards, nothing. So while it rained, Chandan and I got wet in the rain, while the rest of the suckers looked for cover. And we saw an eagle bearing the winds, standing atop a thin wood pole over a house.

Such a statement!

When it was really wet and cold, and after taking pictures and videos of what surrounded us, we found the rest of the guys in a house, which obviously belonged to somebody who wasn't there, and waited for the rain to stop. Well it didn't, and so when it slowed down a little, we made our way back to the rickshaw that was waiting for us, where we saw some men cutting wood, old style with hands and axe! So our guys Vedu and Famu took a shot at it and well, just wasted the wood-cutters' time. They made tiny dents in the wrong places. Not worth too much writing space.

And so we headed back to the hotel, packed our bags and were off to the station for our train to Jodhpur. It was quite cold as we left Jaisalmer and we had to cover ourselves in blankets as we played Uno. Chandan, I realized was warm and I took full advantage and wrapped my hands around his arms, and of course, made the suggestion to Gayatri to do the same! Lol.

The rest of the journey we played dumbcharades and found what an absolutely complex player Fahim is at that game! Let me give you an example:
- Fahim shows us the sign for Hindi movie with one word, with the word split into two. He's gonna sign us the second half.
- Fahim shows us the finger rubbing sign for money. So we guess 'money'.
- He then draws a rectangle with his hands. So we guess 'money note'.
- Then he rubs his hand over his head. So we guess 'hair'. No. 'Bald'? Yes.
- So he shows 'note' and 'bald' again. Okay....'Gandhi'? Yes, Gandhi.
- Now he does a woman's curves with his hand. This took time for us to understand. Gayatri got it quickest. He mean't Gandhi's woman - 'Kasturba'! Haha!
- Now he splits 'Kasturba' in half. We eventually guess 'kast'.
- So that's the second half of the movie's name. What could the first half be? After a few seconds of thinking, we got it - 'Shikast'!!!!

And to do that, I would have shown a bow and arrow or a gun or something to show hunting, get to 'Shikaar' and then get to 'Shikast'! But Fahim is a complex guy!

Another one was this:
- Fahim signs to us that it is an English movie with two words.
- He starts with showing us a butterfly sign with his hands. So 'butterfly' it is.
- Then he signs for the Hindi word for 'butterfly'. 'Titli'.
- He signals a word that rhymes with 'titli'. We finally guess 'Italy'.
- That's kinda the first word. He now asks us to guess the rest. We guess ' Italian Job'. Lol.

And again, to do that, I would have just done the sign for blow job and gotten it! Haha. But I repeat, Fahim is a complex guy!

We were reminded by fellow passengers that we were having way too much fun, and therefore getting noisier. So we finally stopped and went off to sleep. It wasn't so cold that night, as we got farther away from Jaisalmer. Soon, we would be at Jodhpur and I would meet my school best friend, Shubhra, who I haven't been able to be in touch so much anymore, ever since she got married.