amour des Summer

Am I the same girl with thick geeky specks who recalls listening to stories of her great grandmother worshipping sun as God because it was the only visible and powerful thing was venerated? Am I the same little daddy’s girl who understood when he explained that ‘the sun gives us heat and light and helps us to remove darkness and brings light all around the world’? Am I the same girl with a clasped ponytail and Pinocchio nose who would run from her mothers lap just to peep through the window every morning to see the birds welcome the sun with a lovely chirping song? Am I the same girl who, at age five, would sit beneath the sun for an hour just because her aunt told her that sun provides vitamin D which is essential for your skin? And finally am I the same girl who when she saw the sun fully rise would yell to her little brother excitedly ‘it’s a new day, it’s a new day’?

Caught up in the vortex of my hectic professional life, I don’t know if I realize the importance of the sun and summers anymore. But I still memorize the times that I did. So pacing through the wheels of my past, I remember back in school where I learnt two facts aboutsummer:

One: summer is usually the warmest season of the year, occurring between spring and autumn. In the Northern Hemisphere that is June, July, and August. Or, as calculated astronomically, summer is the period extending from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox. The second fact was we were guaranteed a two month vacation.

And then in a gazebo amidst lime green lemonade, golden hued tans, Clinique- SPF 40, and lots of giggles came college. Here my knowledge extended a little more and I started thinking of summer as this seasonal delight when it was perfectly acceptable to ogle shirtless guys like it was a sport, wear your bikini, strapless, bandeau or halter neck day and night, and play even harder than you work.

As if a spell, my innocence in school and kinkiness in college passed away like an open bottle of scotch. Presently I am almost dehydrated wrestling with a crafted couch in my small dingy room without an A. C, literally roaring at the sun like I never loved it earlier. Still frustrated with the partially functional cooler and my perplexed nutty brain that was trying to convince me that summer wasn’t that bad, I switched on the idiot box to catch a glimpse of my favorite fashion TV. Of course they were simply showing the scents and style of summer.

Now that I don’t watch anything apart from fashion TV, I started irritably gazing at the crÃ¨me de la crÃ¨me of the fashion industry dressed up in hues of rich red, gorgeous green, beautiful blue, pretty purply pinks, yummy yellow posing and pouting in front of multihued striped walls and dreamy shelled beaches.

I presume my brain deciphered my instant liking for summers and only when the scorching heat passed away with a watermelon cocktail. I was reminded ‘don’t let the dull dead summers take on you woman! Summer is red, white and blue. It’s flags and fireworks, hot dogs and mustard, cold watermelon and sweet corn and its much more that you are failing to see.’

I realized at once that the innocence of school and kinkiness of college wasn’t lost after all. Fashion TV and my wit managed to remind me of the tinges and vogues of summer. But, still, don’t the roasted rays of summer really get to you sometimes? So what do you do? Perhaps sit idle indoors or maybe surf the net. Ultimately, though, summer is bound to come around every year so the best solution is just to embrace it.

Splendid ways to thrash the summer heat

Come summer and its time to think of ways to beat the heat. While having fun in the sun, we may actually throw caution to the wind! Dr. G S Rao, Managing Director of Yashoda Hospitals, says that heat-related ailments can really be injurious if not immediately addressed.

According to Dr. Rao, some of the most ordinary ailments we face in such high temperatures include dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat cramp, skin diseases, heat (or sun) strokes and water-borne diseases like diarrhea. In order to prevent dehydration, make sure you drink lots of water. ‘Symptoms of dehydration include thirst, light-headedness, dry skin, fatigue, less-frequent urination, dizziness, muscle cramping and dry mouth,’ says Dr Rao.

People also have a tendency to suffer heat strokes during this season. These can be fatal as well resulting in death. Heat stroke symptoms include headache, dizziness, high body temperature, dry, flushed and hot skin without sweat, confusion or disorientation, fatigue or sluggishness, rapid heartbeat, seizure and hallucinations. ‘If someone is stricken with heat stroke, move the person indoors, remove clothes, apply ice packs to groin and armpits, apply cool water and fan to stimulate sweat and call for medical assistance immediately,’ advises Dr.Rao.

Another ailment that crops up in high temperatures is diarrhea. ‘Diarrhea generally occurs due to food poisoning, a health hazard faced due to consumption of contaminated food. Summer is characterized by high heat as well as humidity that are considered as main factors for high contamination of food with bacteria, since bacteria thrive in these conditions,’ explains Dr Rao.

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