Tamil Nadu Publishes Ten Summer Tips, Misplaces the Tenth

The Tamil Nadu Department of Seasonal Persistence released its annual ten-tip summer survival list on Monday, but the printed copies contained only nine tips and a blank square labeled “10.” By noon, residents had begun treating the square as an official permit for whatever cooling measure they could physically fit inside it.

The first eight tips were posted at bus stops, tea stalls and government counters. They advised remaining under shade, carrying a fan, avoiding hot surfaces and asking permission before opening a refrigerator. This led to the reservation of public shade by folding chairs, the appearance of hand-carried fans at traffic signals, and a line outside one refrigerator in Madurai that was organized by a retired school bell.

The missing instruction

Tip nine instructed residents to “locate the nearest permanent cool object.” By evening, families had moved marble statues, office water dispensers and one courthouse pillar into their homes, leaving several buildings structurally optimistic but inconveniently hollow.

Officials finally announced that the missing instruction could be obtained by presenting all nine completed precautions at the department’s counter. Applicants were then issued a small numbered patch of shade and told to stand on it until summer ended. By Tuesday morning, Chennai’s sidewalks were covered in carefully guarded rectangles, each containing one resident, one fan and the unmistakable feeling that the list had won.