Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Aaaaaaaaah

Air-conditioning is air-conditioning, right? Not if you have experienced the "khus-khus" cooler. Also known as the "desert cooler", that contraption - and there is no other word to describe it - was a lifesaver during the summer months in India. Northern India, to be accurate. (So a chicken mesh, a fan, a small water pump and some wood shavings was India's Mason-Dixon line?)

Don't bother googling for the khus-khus cooler though. Most results are about khus-khus drinks. I am also surprised that there are no images of the appliance on the web. Seriously, not one picture?

But 3 Quarks Daily has something even better: a delightful post about air-conditioning, architecture, town planning (with some good ol' Delhiana thrown in). You may want to get a glass of jaljeera first before you start reading it.

2 comments:

Szerelem said...

khus khus collers are amazing. I once traveled in class eleven with my friend to Calcutta from Delhi is a ridiculous train, that too sleeper class and those coolers were the only things that stopped us from dropping down dead. Amazingly effective.

km said...

Szer: a khus cooler on a train? Wow. I had no idea. I always assumed A/C cars on trains just ran regular air-conditioners, even back in the day.