Heat by deadline!

When Sourav Ganguly was told that he is suspended for the next six matches for slow over rate on Tuesday, he tried in vain to explain his point to match referee Chris Broad. The terrible heat in Ahmedabad, need to drink water in between and fatigue of the players -- all arguments of the beleaguered skipper were stubbed.
In the context of this ban, Calcutta Times asked a cross-section of professionals, who regularly sweat it out in the sun for hours in their effort to meet their daily deadlines, how it feels to work in extreme conditions and yet maintain one''s performance level.
If a cricket match is arduous in summer, then a brisk 90-minute game of football is equally tough. Says Mohun Bagan footballer Renedy Singh, "It''s true that a football player can''t give 100 per cent when he has to play in extreme heat, particularly when it rains and the ground becomes muddy. We have to play within the stipulated time and are not allowed a minute extra during the 15-minute half-time break. While on field, if a player takes rest for too long to get over fatigue, he will be replaced in the next match."
While players can''t flirt around with the strict match timings, politicians campaign tirelessly across cities during elections. They work in tight schedules for days. CPI parliamentarian Gurudas Dasgupta admits that it is difficult to work in extreme conditions, particularly within a deadline. "During the last Lok Sabha elections, it''s incredibly tough to attend one meeting after the other continuously. So, meetings are bound to get delayed as you are tired after one meeting. Besides, a person''s capacity to work gets affected. For example, the quality of my public speech may not match up to my usual standard if I am too tired," says Dasgupta.
There is no respite for glamorous film stars as well. Long outdoor shoots during summers can be killing. Says actress Rituparna Sengupta, "The heat kills you but we have to keep our expressions intact. There is no compromise in work as there are other stakes involved in a shoot like availability of co-stars, location, and all, within a given time frame. An actor has to be professional and patient to beat the heat and stress."
At a more grass-root level, there are professionals who have to deal with it on a daily basis. Traffic sergeant Ramesh Haldar has to be on duty for four hours at a stretch under the sun before he can take a break. "We can''t leave our position to go and drink water or stand in the shade. We feel dehydrated but you can''t leave the traffic and relax even for a minute," says Haldar. Certain norms are relaxed for traffic cops during summers though. They aren''t asked to wear warm ankle covers, are given salt tablets and glucose water. Salesperson of a direct marketing agency, Tandra Sarkar, has to visit 60 houses every day for a FMCG survey. "Initially, I would fail to meet the target as covering even 25 houses in a hot afternoon can drain you. But now, I take rest between two houses, drink water and then carry on," says Sarkar.