Saga Of A Summer Night

Sleeping out has its charms—and its perils

- V. Gangadhar

IN HIS MEMORABLE A Night Among the Pines, the great essayist Robert Louis Stevenson wrote about the pleasures of sleeping under the stars. Stevenson was fond of camping out, waking up at 2 a.m., gazing at the starlit sky and falling into a refreshing slumber again.

So, too, are many Indians. During the summer months in Ahmedabad, where I live, when darkness falls everyone makes a beeline for terraces, balconies or the open spaces in front of their homes.

In our home we start debating when to make the move to the terrace as soon as the heat rises and the fans have to be kept on all night.

Being of a scientific bent of mind, I turn down suggestions to consult the family astrologer. “Let’s start right away,” I say. My three-year-old daughter backs me. “Shouldn’t we wait for a few more days?” asks my wife. “There’s still a slight dew in the mornings, and we may catch a chill.” My skepticism about Ahmedabad ever having dewfall in summer doesn’t move her. “If the child or I fall ill, are you going to stay home and look after us?” she asks. A slanging match begins. Tears flow. I give in.