The last time I visited Kashmir, it was for work. The month was November and it was cold with night temperatures dropping below zero degrees. We realized that without a heater it was impossible to sleep in this freezing cold and hence decided to book a costlier hotel with adequate heating facilities. The rooms were big and on one corner below the windows there was a water heater which if you touched felt warm and definitely not hot. It hardly affected the room temperature and we soon realized it wasn’t enough.
As we were exploring the possibilities of a blow heater beside the bed which was located on the other end of the room and quite far from the water heater, the hotel crew informed us in an assuring tone that there was an under – blanket heater to warm the bed. The heat would be trapped under the blanket and would keep us warm. I found two wires on either side of the bed attached to two small temperature controllers each of which had a switch that one could scroll up for max heating and down to switch off. The heater which looked like a very thin blanket was placed under the bed sheet.
After finishing the day’s work, and with a lot of tiredness I went to bed switching on the under – blanket heaters and pulled the blanket over me. In about 7-10 mins the bed warmed up. I cannot explain how luxurious it felt to have a heated mattress underneath and a blanket over me trapping that heat.
In the morning I was so excited that I shared with Deepayan how great the experience was and even he (despite being very well informed about gadgets in general) admitted that he heard about it for the first time!
As usual, for work, I have been travelling in the month of December too, though this is the time I really feel like holidaying not only because of the weather but also because of the wonderful memories I have of Christmas eves, Christmas Carols, Santa clause sending gifts inside socks, parties, friends, bells and stars and home.
Yesterday when I came back home from a series of tours I got two surprise gifts… as I climbed onto my side of the bed in 7 degrees C, under an already laid out blanket, I was touched with the same warmth I had experienced in Kashmir! Yes indeed there was an under – blanket heater underneath! Today morning I was handed a pen drive with new albums of songs for our car as I love to play music in the car when I am travelling. While returning from work in the cold misty evening, I turned on the player and Christmas Carols by one of my most favourite groups from my childhood, Boney M, started playing! And it played, “I played my drum for him pa rum pum pum pum, I played my best for him pa rum pum pum pum…”
Merry Christmas!
Sunny Side Up 