Conversations from a Warming City: Domestic Workers Speak About Heat, Health and Home

Last year, HeatWatch began a project to better understand how rising temperatures are affecting domestic workers in Bengaluru. We set out to explore questions around heat stress, health, and working conditions. While heat was often the starting point, workers spoke about far more than temperature. They spoke about long commutes across the city, managing health conditions, navigating rising expenses, supporting families, and adapting to changes that had gradually become part of everyday life.

Over the course of the project, we spoke with 40 domestic workers across Bengaluru. Workers described long journeys between homes, waiting for public transport without shade, working in poorly ventilated spaces, and returning home exhausted after a full day of work.

• 36 of the 40 workers reported experiencing at least one heat-related health symptom during summer

  , most often extreme tiredness, headaches, body pain, and dizziness.

  21 workers had visited a hospital or clinic during summer because of heat-related health problems.

• 30 workers described higher household expenses during hotter months

  , from electricity bills to cooling refreshments and medicines.

• 20 workers said they deliberately restricted their water intake at work

  because they had nowhere to use a toilet or did not feel comfortable asking.

While the findings helped us understand common experiences across workers, the interviews offered a closer look at how heat shapes everyday life.

Gayathri spent years walking and relying on buses to travel between jobs. As summers grew hotter, the commute became harder to manage. Then came the bike. "Her bike," she beams, "has changed her day."

Every day, Anandhi waters more than 300 plants as part of her work. Much of it happens outdoors, under the sun. Looking across the terrace she tends, she wonders what will happen to the plants if the heat continues to intensify.

Pushpa's workday takes her across buses, footpaths, and long waits at bus stops. Having spent years navigating the city in the heat, she is clear about what would make those journeys easier: "We need drinking water at bus stops and more shade from trees."

These are just a few of the reflections brought together in Conversations from a Warming City. Published in both English and Kannada, the book creates space for domestic workers to speak about work, health, family, mobility, and the ways a warming city is reshaping everyday routines. Through these accounts, readers encounter Bengaluru through the eyes of women whose labour sustains the city every day.

At HeatWatch, storytelling has always been an important way of making heat visible. Data helps us understand patterns, but stories help us understand what those patterns mean in people's lives. This collection is part of that effort. As Bengaluru continues to warm, we hope these conversations encourage readers to engage more deeply with the realities, knowledge, and perspectives of domestic workers and the ways they are navigating a changing climate.

Credits

This book emerged from HeatWatch Foundation's work on heat stress among domestic workers in Bengaluru. We are deeply grateful to the domestic workers who shared their experiences, stories, and time with us.

We thank the Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU), particularly Geeta Menon, Radha, and Yashodha, for their partnership, guidance, and support throughout this project. We also thank the Bengaluru Sustainability Forum (BSF) for supporting this work.

The conversations continue in the pages of "Conversations from a Warming City". Published in both English and Kannada, read the full book here.