Why don't humans hibernate? - Musings on foggy morns

If only we two-legged upright creatures realized the benefits of hibernating...

I can't see beyond 50 metres in Delhi,
you can't drive afore you clear your Boston drive
Look at the bear - he's wise, no balaclavas,
no fireplaces, he stays put till spring cometh
Why don't humans hibernate?

I like the snow in summer, visiting
atop a tourist-glacier, and
enjoy cold, wet hands for a few minutes
the warmth is just down the hill.
Why can't humans hibernate?

Why burn more fuel for warmth?
Why have winter fashion?
Why add even more layers
over cultivated fatty layers?
Why won't humans hibernate?

Warm-blooded? or cold?
How cozy to have your fill
and sleep your way through,
saving energy in several ways...
When will humans hibernate?

This is not a rhetorical query - I await your response - and you have time till Dec 2009 to respond. This winter though, I'll continue to relply to my son's "Amma, I do not want to get out of the warm bed!" thus - "I'm sorry my son, humans don't hibernate, you'll have to rise."

Here are my additions to some 'memory aids on the Celsius scale'
When it's zero it's freezing, - I agree
when it's 10 it's not, - but near enough
when it's 20 it's warm, - of course not
when it's 30 it's hot! - it's cool

and to another -
Thirty is hot - pleasant, I allow
Twenty is nice - n.....ice?
Ten is cool - heaters, please
Zero is ice - granted!

By chance, these thoughts (origins not yet known) reached me this week - (enlarge to read)I'd prefer to be a squirrel though!

When one hails from Chennai, where the clime is hot in winter, hotter at most other times, and hottest in summer, out come the single cardigan or shawl for any temperature below 30 degrees C (about 86 F) - honest! I discover that I am just not built for temperatures of less that 15 C, as I encounter north-Indian cold.

In the meanwhile - I continue to pray - May the winter Sun never Set!

Comments

  1. Happy Kitten14 January, 2009

    LOL! That was too good....

    Here in Kuwait too we r cold... nd sometimes it goes zero they say..and like your son we don't want to get out of the bed!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Swarna14 January, 2009

    me too, HK - Am thankful that we got some electric blankets...

    ReplyDelete
  3. RAJI MUTHUKRISHNAN14 January, 2009

    Nice observations.

    The verse is very, very nice.
    I spent many of my young years in Delhi - and hated the Delhi winters.

    Give me good hot Chennai any day!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mojo14 January, 2009

    My Hyderabadi friend here says the same thing. Subba Didi will be bundled up like Nanook if we get below 85 degrees. Personally, if I were going to hibernate it would be during summer! The heat just saps my energy.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Indrani14 January, 2009

    Nice lines. :)

    Don't wish to experience Delhi winters after what I read.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Swarna14 January, 2009

    Raji, thanks! Enjoy Chennai as much as you want!
    Mojo - thanks. I agree. Actually can't help thinking that's a rather good idea - we'll need to see the world for only six months of the year!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous15 January, 2009

    Nice blog…but I will take a cold day in delhi any day over a hot day in Chennai..oh cold mornings in delhi sipping hot tea..and then melting away in pleasant afternoons…you make me nostalgic. Yes a cold day in boston, shivering but still confused..maybe I will prefer Chennai.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Swarna15 January, 2009

    Indrani - worth a visit - surely when we are still here! ;)
    Abhijit - take your time to decide!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kat15 January, 2009

    Would like to quote Robert-who-Frost..!!

    The woods are lovely dark and deep
    But humans have promises to keep
    And miles to go before they sleep
    And miles to go before they sleep..!!

    HENCE we can't afford to hibernate :)))))

    p.s. It's only he-bears that expect their mate to growl while waking up, notice hairy legs and excess body fat? I see..!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Inner Vision16 January, 2009

    we have been to Delhi on few occasions and have definitely not enjoyed the winter there. We would prefer Bombay/Mumbai anytime. Nice read... thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Swarna16 January, 2009

    Kat
    You forget the hibernation is temporary sleep. RF referred to the somewhat (arguably) more permanent one!
    Shiv,
    I often think these thoughts must sound strange to readers from other worlds, for whom central heating is the quickest solution. I can grin and bear it, thankful for the roof over my head, but what about the millions of homeless who face the weather day-in and day-out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kat16 January, 2009

    Okay.... RF's sleep withdrawn.

    of course you would know better than me the quote "...Dream is not what you see in sleep, dream is the thing which does not let you sleep."

    Two legged upright creatures DREAM..!!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lakshmi Bharadwaj18 January, 2009

    Yes! May the winter sun never ever set! I love that time of the year when winter is melting into spring...mud time or something they call it. Nice poem you have there, I really do wish that humans could hibernate!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous20 January, 2009

    I have wondered the same thing, and it's much colder where I live. But our automated, mechanized world needs tending even in the winter, so how can we sleep undisturbed?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Swarna20 January, 2009

    Lakshmi
    Perhps we can slow down intentionally, and that is what hibernation does over a longer period!
    Wren, that's the saddest part of it - the automated world.

    ReplyDelete
  16. workhard21 January, 2009

    I rather be cold and hibernate than experience indian summers..

    BPO work from home

    ReplyDelete

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