As one bears the sizzling heat of summer indoors as well as outside, it is impossible not to think of people like traffic police and labourers who work outdoors without much shade, being over-exposed to the sun on a daily basis.

Like Muhammad Abbas 27, who sells tamarind sherbet outside the Punjab University campus in Lahore. He resides in Bhaykewal Village adjacent to Allama Iqbal Town.

His eyes light up as he recounts the number of glasses sold that day. “I won’t give you the exact number because I don’t want to get jinxed but this empty bucket will tell you the story,” he said, laughing. It was around 3:40pm, and the sun shone brightly with no shade to protect us. “If it’s not as hot as it is today, I am still out selling sherbet till 8pm.” Did he plan to return after refilling the bucket? “No, I’ll spend the rest of the day with my family now,” he replies happily though completely drenched in sweat.

A lassi vendor right outside the Mori Gate has a big black umbrella to provide him shade. Despite the heat, he is content at the opportunity summer has brought for him to earn some money for which he is grateful to God.

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Ever thought of how people working outdoors handle the scorching midday sun?

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Customers kept coming up and drinking cool glasses of lassi that he poured out for for them from a huge earthen pot.

Entering Sunday bazaar from the main Wahdat road, a long line of juice and lassi vendors can be seen on the left side. Muhammad Amir Nadeem, 42, sells women’s garments here. He braves direct sunlight. “I can’t do much about the heat; if it gets unbearable, I go and stand under the shade with other retailers. There is no arrangement for water by the administration,” said Amir. “If I feel thirsty, I have to buy a glass of water for Rs5.” At this point he was surprisingly gracious enough to offer me a cold drink. "I earn reasonably well from this stall; but if I work for someone else, they wouldn't pay more than Rs15-20,000." He wished that the government would come up with opportunities for people to have a more stable income.

The policemen, however, have come up with an interesting strategy at this market. Smartly enough, they keep moving their positions along with shade in order to escape from direct sunlight. “If we have to stand in direct sunlight on duty then it has to be done, but we do try to take refuge in the shade when we can. We are also human beings, but it seems that people do not realise that,” the police officer in charge of security said on condition of anonymity. He seemed more concerned about people’s attitude than the hot weather.

Traffic wardens also face the wrath of the summer sun on the roads, amidst busy traffic. Arshad, a traffic warden deployed at Doctors Hospital’ signal works an eight-hour shift.

He and his colleagues occupy a public bench and foldable chairs beside the road under the shade of trees. “We carry an umbrella to avoid direct contact with sunlight but when the hot air blows then the umbrella becomes useless. In this heat even commuters are hyper, it’s very difficult to give them a challan. Nowaday, it is not uncommon for commuters to blame the heat for their violation of traffic laws. Some of them even tell us to go sit in the shade and stop giving challans,” he said.

The oppressive heat does not seemed to have affected the cheerfulness of some vegetable vendors at the Shadman Itwaar bazaar. One of them hollered in his typical Punjabi style: “Pindian tay karaylay, dukaandar waylay”.

Friday is a prime business day for traders in Shah Alam Market. More commonly known as Shalmi, it is Lahore’s biggest wholesale market. A lot of markets are closed in the different cities of Punjab on Friday, except for Lahore, and so retailers come to Shalmi from all over to purchase different goods.

Abdul Wahab Saeed is a trader in Shalmi and co-owns National Traders which is a three-storeyed men’s garment shop where half a dozen employees work. “During winter on a Friday, our gross sale is around Rs2,000,000 to Rs2,500,000. But in May and June, it is only around Rs200,000. We rely on Afghan customers who come from Kabul and pay us in cash as opposed to local retailers who pay back in two or three months. Even if just two or three customers arrive from Kabul per month, our accounts are sorted for the whole month.”

Wahab feels that in summer the market is very slow, almost dead. He blames the heat among other factors. “People don’t go out for shopping much in the hot weather and hence retailers aren’t able to sell much which eventually brings our business down.”

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Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 20th, 2014