It’s always hot, and often wet in the tropics. At certain times of the year I really miss England’s seasons. There is no spring in India, the seasons segue from winter to summer here. Kerala is at its hottest in April and May, when pre-monsoon steamy white heat reduces the tumbling torrent of Cochin’s street-life to a dried up trickle. Tourists are the only fools to go out in the midday sun. Even the mad dogs sleep.