The Data Man: Interview with Ajit Chandrasekhar Regarding the Bangalore Weather

 

The Data Man

Interview with Ajit Chandrasekhar Regarding the Bangalore Weather

 

 'Weather in Bangalore' by Ajit Chandrasekhar can be accessed here.

 

Print.Able:

Good Morning Ajit. Thank you for the fascinating post on the extremes of the Bangalore weather in 2024.

 

We have some questions for you.

 

Print.Able:

Have you always been interested in the weather?

Ajit:

Yes. From when I was around ten.

 

Print.Able:

Was there anyone else in your family who was interested in the weather and meteorological phenomena?

Ajit:

Not on a regular basis. I was found it interesting on my own.

 

Print.Able:

Do you remember any significant weather-related incidents from your childhood.

Ajit:

We had some friends who recounted to me that when their family went to Coimbatore one winter, it was 10° C and they were all shivering.

 

When everybody saw the Coimbatore weather report in the paper, they thought it was a mistake. My parents said to me, ‘Ajit, how can it be?’ We did not believe it till our friends told us about it.

 

Print.Able:

1988 was the year of the second wettest day in Bangalore. Did anything happen then?

Ajit:

The compound wall of the place we were living collapsed. It was a scientific campus. We heard the noise at night during the downpour. It rained from 9 pm to 1 am. When we woke up, we saw what had happened.

 

Print.Able:

Anything similar in 2024?

Ajit:

The compound wall of the Gandhi Krishi Vigyan Kendra (GKVK) campus collapsed. I read about it in the Deccan Herald. There were also some buildings that collapsed in the city. Casualties were reported.

 

Print.Able:

What are the hottest and the coldest temperatures you remember experiencing?

 Ajit:

44° C! That was in Madras (Chennai) in May 1968. Almost 100 percent humidity.

The coldest in my memory was Darjeeling, in December 1978. Freezing temperature, 0° C.