Chennai Cold !! ............. remembering Mufflers !!!

 

Are you among those who feel Chennai has become cold and in the mornings, it is really chill !! 

 

Millennium kids of Chennai, may not be able to identify this utopian wearable, that was once present in every middle class home – a long, short width – cheap wollen cloth called ‘Muffler’ – that will be out in Margazhi.  Aged people would come out wearing muffler, which now is replaced by monkey caps and ear caps !  

Chennai city which is sweltering heat most times, has some lower temperatures in Dec / Jan.  The December Season can perhaps be divided into two sections – music and the dance. At traditional places, music winter is  angavastrams drawn over the ears and head if male, and a woollen shawl if female. At dance festivals, you get to see pashminas, shah toosh and so on.  .. .. and Chennaites feel the early morning cold of sub 15 degrees Celsius is biting cold !! 

Thousands of Miles away, the coldest place in the USA is likely somewhere remote in Alaska, specifically areas like Fairbanks or even colder spots in the interior, given its consistently frigid winters and low-lying valleys. With a minimum average temperature of about minus 17 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. -8.8 degrees Celsius] Fairbanks takes the cake as the coldest city in the U.S. The northernmost major city in Alaska, Fairbanks has seen record cold temperatures reaching minus 66 degrees in the past.   

In December 2025, Delhi is experiencing its peak winter season, with cool-to-cold weather, significant fog, and ongoing cultural events. Temperatures generally range from a minimum of around 8°C (46°F) to a maximum of 23°C (73°F), though cold waves can cause temperatures to drop further.  Here is a photo of cycle rickshaw taken a few years ago !! 

 

Those who live in hope for a real winter in Chennai point with some mournful pride at a highly disputed fact - that for one day in April 1815 temperature in Madras did drop to below freezing point. There are references to cold weather in the month of Margazhi (Dec/Jan) and of the falling of pani (dew).

 
Interesting !
 
Regards – S Sampathkumar
31/12/2o25