On hot summer afternoons in the western part of Chennai, while many adults retreat indoors, a group of children are out on the streets with thermo-hygrometers, fluke instruments, notebooks and pens. They record heat and humidity at different times of the day, surveying residents about their experiences and identifying how heat is distributed across their locality. Trained through a joint initiative by the Chennai Climate Action Group (CCAG)'s Youth Climate Resilience Movement and the Pudiyador Learning Centre, children in Ramapuram are monitoring hyperlocal temperatures, mapping urban heat hotspots, and documenting how extreme weather impacts their community.  The exercise began after…

Imagine this: the electricity zaps off at noon during summer, and the air conditioning switches off. The sweat begins trickling down your back, and the hot air envelops your room. In these situations, Abirami DM and her family sit near the courtyard of their traditional home in Chintadripet, as the breeze filters in. This two-storey home, which has witnessed six generations of Abirami’s family, is built with materials like red oxide flooring and mud walls. “I grew up here, so I couldn’t find the difference in terms of heat until my maternal side of the family moved from a traditional…