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Brisk business for sugarcane vendors

         Amritsar/Jaipur: As north India is scorching under a blazing summer, sugarcane juice vendors, ice factory owners and turban sellers are doing a brisk business. North India is in the grip of severe heat wave, with Punjab and Rajasthan recording temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius. "The temperature is above 40 degree Celsius. We cannot step out of the house without covering our faces. It's especially hard on students," said Bhupinder, a Punjab resident. On the roadsides, it's heyday for sugarcane juice vendors. Most people gulp down the soothingly cool juice to ward off ill effects of the blazing heat. Ice factory owners are also doing a good business, as the demand is peaking with the rising temperature. "After April 15, I have been doing good business. As the temperature has gone above 40 degrees Celsius, the business is soaring," said Amanpreet, an ice factory owner. The scene is no different in Rajasthan where most of the people are hiding under heavy turbans to escape sunstroke. Sher Singh, a turban seller, said that the layers of the turban trap the sweat and act as an air conditioner. "These turbans are made of cotton. They absorb all the sweat and the wet turban acts as air conditioner," Singh said. Similar conditions prevailed in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh with temperatures rising more than five degrees above normal temperatures in several places.
-April 29,  2007