Weather Wisdom in Sindhi Literature: Capturing weather as a force of imagination in Shah Jo Risalo

Weather stories and folklore are one avenue through which people have historically expressed their interactions with the environment. They not only capture the ways in which people interact with their environments, but also provide a force of imagination that influences understandings of the self, the universe, and broader perceptions of the human condition. In this blog, we consider stories that have been told about weather in the South Asian context. How have they shaped peoples’ engagement with their environments? How have they aided sensorial experiences of weather? And, what is the relevance of such stories in today’s climate-change driven context

Heat Governance in Urban South Asia: The Case of Karachi

This scoping study draws on a review of key policy documents, plans, grey, academic, and scientific literature to outline the role of state and non-state actors in Karachi’s heat governance. It emphasizes the need to understand heat, microclimates, urban planning, infrastructural inequities, and vulnerability in a relational context. It also presents original climate data analysis for the last 60 years in Karachi, to quantify the rapid temperature change in the city: findings that underscore why it is important now, more than ever, to talk about heat in the context of an unequal city

Recipes for Life with Heat during Ramzan

The holy month of Ramzan (also spelled Ramadan) is a medium for Muslims around the world to rejuvenate their piety to the Creator. Each year, somewhere in the world, the month of Ramzan coincides with a period of seasonal or unseasonal heat. Against the backdrop of rising global temperatures, this collection asks: how do people and institutions manage the heat of Ramzan while fasting? This multilingual collection examines the gendered relationship between consumption, mobility and piety during Ramzan. The collection brings together participant observation and social analysis, with an archive of found materials from print and online media