Editor's note: This is part of a series of posts written in cooperation with NRDC's India Initiative. Learn and read more here.

I'm writing from Ahmedabad, in the Gujarat state of India, where it is now day three of a four-day heat wave. Normally we'd be complaining about this, since roasting heat isn’t exactly what one looks forward to when one embarks upon a significant undertaking. In this case, however, we think it is almost serendipitous, given that we are in Ahmedabad for a joint US-India scientific workshop that we have organized on the theme of heat stress and vulnerability. It is fitting, therefore, that all the gathered scientists, public health professionals, local and state government officials and health advocates are discussing the impacts of increased temperatures on human health just as the mercury’s rising.

During the course of the workshop, we did the following:

• Learned a great deal about the physiological effects of high temperatures on the human body;
• Heard evidence of increased mortality and morbidity during Ahmedabad’s record-breaking heat wave in 2010 when the final death toll reached 63 and the temperature almost touched 47 degrees C(or 116.6 degrees F);
• Identified environmental, social, cultural, economic, and demographic factors that increase vulnerability of some groups to heat stress;
• Studied approaches by a few cities in the West to build resilience against heat stress; and
• Shared data as well as anecdotal evidence on influences that build or strengthen adaptive capacity.

It was in the context of the last topic -- how people can adapt to and strengthen their resilience against extremely high temperatures -- that we heard many comments that captured our imaginations. Across the world and in a wide spectrum of fields, customary practices provide valuable information to scientists and researchers. Traditional knowledge is, in fact, often found to be rooted in hard scientific principles. Heat-related resilience and adaptation is no different, and we found a plethora of examples of such community wisdom in Ahmedabad, most of them passed down for ages. Such traditional practices are often the only recourse for the poorest, most vulnerable sections of society, such as casual laborers and hand cart pullers, who can afford neither artificial cooling nor medical care.

Traditional design and architectural concepts

Historically, all homes were built with a north-south orientation to avoid direct sunlight. Also, they were built in narrow lanes which kept most neighborhoods cool because direct sunlight reached the street for barely a few hours a day. Traditional houses were built with thick walls and high ceilings made of low conductivity materials like clay and wood. Walls were whitewashed with slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) and chalk, to keep the interiors cool.

Cultural practices

Local traditions to combat the heat include providing free cold water to passers-by from temporary roadside dispensing stations (piau), provision of resting places for laborers, and an accepted norm of an afternoon break or siesta for construction workers and laborers--when they rest their bodies in the shade during peak afternoon heat and then recommence work in the early evening after the temperature starts to dip. In fact, the daily schedule of many Gujaratis once included an afternoon siesta to reduce physical activity in the afternoon when the body is most prone to exhaustion. Similarly, many Gujaratis traditionally made their outdoor plans for later at night in the cool air, after dinner. In fact, even now there are outdoor shopping areas that open at 8:00 pm and conduct business until 11:00 pm.

Cuisine

Diet too plays a role in protecting against heat stress. Ahmedabadis traditionally eat sorghum, raw onion, and raw sour mangoes to combat a heatstroke, and drink a thin, yogurt-like, buttermilk drink called chhaas. To rectify the body’s acid balance and restore equilibrium after losing a lot of salt through sweat, many people also traditionally enjoyed salty and spicy drinks like “jal jeera,” a cold drink of rock salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, black pepper, mint, and lemon juice. Today, the proliferation of soda shops bears testimony to the continuing popularity of cold drinks as a means to beat the heat.

Dr. Mavalankar, IIPH-G, drinking a refreshing drink from a roadside vendor. Photo credit: Anjali Jaiswal, NRDC, during the March 2011 Heat Stress Workshop, Ahmedabad

Clothing

In the summers, people dress in lighter-colored clothing, and in thin Indian cottons that allow the body to breathe and absorb sweat, while keeping the body cool. Traditional dress styles emphasized covering the head -- turbans for men and stoles (or dupattas) for women. A fascinating local apparel innovation was the “sola hat," which was popular in the region during the 18th century. It was a safari-helmet made of Indian cork (shola) that became ubiquitous in colonial India, used both by the British as well as local government employees and civilians.

Women commuters in Ahmedabad cover their head and face to protect from direct sun. Photo credit: Anjali Jaiswal, NRDC, during the March 2011 Heat Stress Workshop, Ahmedabad

Such traditional practices are now dying out, and being replaced by more westernized diet, attire, and building styles. Not all of what is being adopted is conducive to Ahmedabad’s hot, dry climate, and could lead to a decrease in resilience. While evolution in cultural practices is natural, it is important to ensure that trends and innovations remain relevant to climate and geography so that they do not add societal costs in the form of poor health. Local officials, public health groups, non-profit community organizations, and the media should try to promote traditional practices that strengthen adaptive capacity. Scientists should simultaneously study such practices to identify the processes by which these effectively protect against heat stress, so as so add validation where possible.

As Ahmedabad grapples with its second (and certainly not its last) heatwave this season, we will continue to devise strategies for preparedness, adaptation, and resilience for the city’s most vulnerable populations. Experts at the workshop -- organized by the Public Health Foundation of India, the Indian Institute of Public Health Gandhinagar, the Natural Resources Defense Council, with the support of the Indo US Science and Technology Forum -- are actively engaged with the progressive leadership at the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to bring the best of science, technology and tradition together into the preparedness plan.

As we do so, we will ensure that the future of Ahmedabad, a period certain to bring increased temperatures due to climate change, finds strength from the past. This wisdom from the ages can offer clues to how we can all stay healthy and productive in a rapidly changing world.