Summer is settling in two months too early in India this year, as are all the ways to beat it.
The 40°C (104°F) weather that typically comes by May had already started gripping large swathes of the country by the end of March. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that average temperatures will be a degree above normal this summer. Deadly heatwaves killed over 700 Indians in 2016.
People all over the country have taken to different ways of keeping cool: jumping in ponds and fountains, guzzling water, eating ice cream, covering up with scarves, and more.
Indian children cool off near the banks of the Lower Lake in Bhopal, India, March 31. EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA
Men bathe in the river Ganges in Kanpur, India, April 3. REUTERS/Danish Siddiqui
A boy jumps into a pond to cool off in Agartala, India, April 8. REUTERS/Jayanta DeyImage: Reuters/Jayanta Dey
Boys play in a fountain in New Delhi, India, April 13. REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton
Men squash sugarcane in a hand-run wooden grinder under the shadow of a tree on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India, March 31. REUTERS/Amit Dave
Indian girls ride a bike with their faces covered to protect from heat in Bhopal, India, March 31. EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA
Schoolchildren walk holding umbrellas in Bhopal, India, March 31. EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA
A man eats ice-cream to cool himself in Mumbai, India, March 30. EPA/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI
A taxi driver wipes his face with handkerchief as he waits for passenger in Mumbai, India, March 30. EPA/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI
A woman drinks water in Mumbai, India, March 30. EPA/DIVYAKANT SOLANKI
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