One of the many constants throughout our trip has been the never ending hum of the ceiling fan. We must be followed by flocks of them. In every restaurant, temple, hotel room we go - there they are hovering in the center of the room and pushing air down on the people below.
AC is nice, but it most cases not really sanitary. The cooled air sits, then recycles itself through stagnant filters. Does anyone actually clean AC filters? I think in certain parts of the world AC gnomes travel from high-class joint to high-class joint wiping clean the filters of dirty AC machines. In India this in just not so. Along with being five times the normal ticket price, AC train compartments in India also have the added benefit of sharing your bacteria and viruses with the other passengers. Dust, bacteria, viruses, mold, fungus, mildew and gases all stew around with you and your compartment dwellers. But please don't believe me, ask your local HVAC expert.
The ceiling fan repairmen should have their own caste - Just below the Brahmin and above the businessman. Continually in motion they are the engine that runs things in the indian subcontinent... particularly between the months of March and July. I suggest some form of flywheel mechanism to use the kinetic energy of the gajillions of spinning blades. Arundati Roy would be so happy, just think about what that would do to the India and the World Bank's dreadful Hydroelectric Scheming!
I will not faint when I see the first temple constructed to the ceiling fan. I will lean forward and embrace the air as it evaporates the sweat on my pointy head. I will close my eyes and feel the air lift the remains of 2:30's bottle of mineral water from my elbows (It is 2:35 as I write). I will be at peace with the creator.
When we return to SF, the first thing we do is equip our ceiling fan-less apartment with several. Luckily, in my past life I was a CF repairwallah, so I can fix a wobble in a jiffy.
