Mumbaikars are by and large conditioned to deal with change, no matter how sudden. And an unseasonal couple of days’ rain is nothing to the city’s residents, who merely use newspaper and carrier bags as makeshift protection, and run for cover. The day’s business rarely gets interrupted. For the average city-dweller, urban compulsions mean that sudden rain is equal to rushing for an earlier train, or remembering to carry an umbrella, or buying an extra newspaper in case it is needed for shelter or for use as a seat liner. We “manage”, and carry on with life, no matter what the weather.

But we cannot remain imperturbable for long. Aside from the fact that sudden rain can lead to the spread of infections, unseasonal climatic events of this sort are a portent of something bigger. Weather is what’s happening outside the door right now; climate is the pattern of weather measured over a number of decades. And our climate is changing.