Living with Heat: Medical, Social and Cultural Contexts of Excess Heat in India

South Asia is no stranger to scorching temperatures, but the modern-day manifestations of heat present a unique and pressing challenge. This project proposes a comprehensive exploration of the profound impact of persistent heat in the context of climate change on the body, health, and society, with a particular emphasis on the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana that face record-breaking heatwaves each year. In 2016, these states experienced the deadliest heatwave of the last decade, following a severe heatwave in 2015, resulting in the highest number of heat-related deaths in India. The project operates within three interconnected domains addressing excess heat: 1) medical practices and protocols, 2) individuals' lived experiences and culturally-embedded coping mechanisms, and 3) policy responses. These three thematic domains collectively constitute a tacit ‘heat infrastructure,’ with the objective to investigate the functionality of this infrastructure by examining the interconnections and dialogues between them to construct an anthropology of heat. The project will produce cutting-edge knowledge that extends beyond academia, informing policies and practices to mitigate the increasingly disruptive impacts of excess heat in South Asia. It will also contribute to the broader discourse on resilience and adaptation in the face of accelerating climate change.