prickly heat powder: don't leave home without it

Ah, the lovely refreshing month of May. Springtime! Nothing like a May in Tamil Nadu, let me tell you. The feeling of having just had a full bath in hot salt water after one minute outside. The invariable hours-long power cut which leaves one contemplating the true miracle of ceiling fans. The moment in which the power returns and the ceiling fan begins to spin, making the room even hotter than it was before, leaving you to wonder if a ceiling fan is really so great after all. The fresh night air, with the "low" clocking in at around 83F. It's bliss, let me tell you. And let's not forget the prickly heat. There's nothing like a good case of prickly heat to make your face feel like it's being poked all over by needles.

Chennai clocked in yesterday at a startling 108F, while we in Madurai were wrapping up in woolen scarves and stocking caps as the mercury only managed to crawl up to 102F. Fortunately the humidity is only at 80%. Surprisingly, while the foreigner is sweating so much even her FOREARMS are dripping, the average Madurai citizen stands smiling in the 102F sun seemingly without a drop of sweat on their body. Maybe a drop of sweat will drip down their forehead, but that's about it. What gives? What is the secret here? Are white people less evolved and biologically incapable of dealing with the heat? Locals are cafeful not to let the foreigners walk too much in the sun, etc., as foreigners "just cannot manage." It's true, but there's got to be something else going on here! How is it that one can be so used to extraordinary heat that he or she appears not to sweat??

I've discovered the secret! It's prickly heat powder! Sprinkle this all over your body, and it absorbs the sweat. All along I thought the powder obsession here was just about making one's face look ghostly white; it turns out it serves a dual purpose. Unfortunately I took the prickly heat powder a little overboard and broke out in a rash, so I might have to lay off it for a while. But it was nice while it lasted. Now if I could just do something about this ringworm on my hand.* **

Prickly Heat Powder: Comes highly recommended.

Except for the little allergic reaction detail.

*joke.
**kind of.