Eliminate the threats posed by the monsoons and sail right through the season. Here’s how:

Home Hygiene
For a clean, perfect home, start preparing months before the monsoon begins. Take care of the leakages or repairs. Check the ceiling and walls for cracks and stop seepage, if any. Interior designers offer tips to keep your home looking great throughout the season.
• Reduce the overall humidity levels inside your home. Ensure that your rooms are well-ventilated to allow enough fresh air. Install humidifiers or air conditioners to remove dampness and humidity.
• Select a proper place for keeping wet shoes and umbrellas, preferably outside the house or away from the main living area. The place should get sunshine, light and proper ventilation.
• Get weather-proof windows for the house or arrange for temporary sheds or tarpaulins.
• Pest-control your house for white ants, termites or other pests to prevent the problem from worsening.
• Put fibre nets on your windows to keep mosquitoes and flies away, let air in and stop the rain water from coming in directly.
• Get all loose wires fixed. For your exteriors, use water-proof light fittings and switches.

Wardrobe maintenance
• Try to have white marble slabs for shelves. They are cost effective and help get rid of dampness and white ants. The outer structure and shutters can be wooden.
• Air dry and iron all your clothes and other stuff before storing.
• Install mini fluorescent tubes in your wardrobe to keep it illuminated, dry and warm and to distract pests.
• Air wrap linen and keep away woolens and silks not in frequent use. Keep a few neem leaves, cloves or camphor balls between the folds.
• Keep silica gel sachets and some potpourri in all the corners to absorb the dampness and bring a tangy aroma to your closet.
• Clean all your leather stuff with dry, soft linen. In case of fungus, clean it with a little oil cream. It will shine like new.
• Wrap up the bags not frequently used.
• Use old wax polish to shine your shoes.

TLC for carpets, dhurries and rugs
• Roll up the carpets and put them away with camphor balls or neem leaves in between.
• If you must use them, keep dirty wet shoes away.
• Dry and air them regularly during sunny days.
• You may get them and your sofas shampooed from professional cleaners.

Keep your home clean
• Keep the house extra clean by adding phenyl, antiseptic and rock salt to the cleaning water.
• To clean wooden furniture, keep it germ-free and add sheen to it, add a pinch of coconut oil and antiseptic to the cleaning water.
• Clean your cane and metal furniture with a dry cloth to keep it moist-free.
• Clean glass with a piece of tissue paper or newspaper.
• Don’t allow water to stagnate or accumulate around the house.
• Clean fountains or water bodies frequently and change the water regularly.
• Make sure there is proper cross-ventilation and open windows during sunny days to let sunlight and air move freely into the house.
• Keep your hardwood floors free from moisture. Wax them to protect them.

Feng Shui your home
• Remove all the clutter and unnecessary things from the house.
• Keep small paper or ceramic bowls filled with rock salt in the corners of the house and near the drain in the toilets to absorb all the negativity.
• Light nice incense sticks to give your home a lovely aroma and keep flies away.

Cherish your jewellery
Jewellery and ornaments are our most cherished and life-long assets. Jewellery designers offer useful tips to look after your jewellery during the monsoon.
• Weather conditions don’t affect diamonds. However, to maintain the polish of the metal in which they have been mounted, clean the jewellery with a soft, dry, non-abrasive cloth like velvet before storing it.
• Avoid wearing gold-plated jewellery during the monsoon. Certain polishes like oxidized or gheru polish are temporary finishes which can get ruined on getting wet. Some textures given to gold may appear blotched with moisture.
• Wipe clean with a soft cloth before storing away. It’s best to wear plain gold jewellery in smooth finish.
• Take special care for silver jewellery, as it has a tendency to tarnish faster in this season. Wipe clean daily with a soft dry cloth to avoid an oxidisation layer from being formed. Store them with pieces of blackboard chalk that absorbs moisture from the air and prevents tarnishing of silver. Or wrap them in cotton and keep in zip lock polythene bags.
• Wipe clean pearls and store in cotton after use.

Home Remedies
The monsoon brings with it a whole spate of viral, bacterial, parasitic and infectious diseases. Here are effective home remedies to help you tide through the monsoon.

For cough and colds:
Take 1 gm each of ginger, haldi, black pepper and tulsi. Grind and mix with honey decoction and take the mixture three times a day for 21 days.

Diarrhoea: Grind jaifal, tamarind seed and bel phal together and mix the juice with honey.

Eye ailments: Mix white onion juice with honey in equal proportion. Put 1 drop of the mixture in each eye, 3-4 times a day.

Jaundice: Extract the juice of white radish leaves mixed with mishri and take it three times a day for 16 days.

Fever: Take 5 gms each of black pepper, cloves, dalchini, haldi, lemon grass, curry leaves, dry ginger and bajri and boil in four glasses of water. Reduce it to half a glass and drink the kaddha. Take this two times a day.

Indigestion: Make a decoration of hing, curry leaves, jeera, and black salt powder in hot water and drink the mixture. It gives immediate relief.

Power of Yoga
Rains make us lethargic, tired and restless. Asanas help us replenish our lost energies and keep illness at bay. Yogic exercises for different monsoon illnesses.

Lethargy & Constipation: Prayer gesture in tree pose Stand up straight, feet lightly in contact inside. Those who are over-weight, may however, keep the legs slightly apart initially. Inhale. Make a namaskar gesture behind your back. Try to make both hands make contact completely. Those who are very stiff may initially start with just the fingers touching. Hold for a few seconds, looking ahead, body naturally erect and breathing gently. Slowly, increase time in this pose to one minute, or more.

Benefits:
• This energy-releasing posture give you a natural high.
• It treats a weak respiratory system that makes one vulnerable to allergies, bronchitis, asthma and sinusitis.
The improved breathing promotes efficient digestion and metabolism.

Fever & Influenza: Lion Roaring Pose Sit down comfortably. Inhale and exhale twice. After the third inhalation, exhale with force, pushing out your tongue as far down towards the chin as possible while rolling your eyes upwards. Bend forward slightly as if you were a lion, preparing for a taut pounce forward. Hold for a few seconds. Release. Repeat thrice.
Benefits:
• This provides immediate relief in fever and sinus-related problems.
• It also acts as an anti-ageing facial, enhancing blood flow to the face and tightening the skin.
• It causes a powerful, lifting effect on sagging skin.

Diarrhoea: Cooling Breath
Sit up straight. Shut your eyes, as you must for all breathing practices. Fold your tongue as you would when whistling. Inhale through the mouth. Relax the tongue and lips, then exhale through the nostrils. You will feel the coldness of the breath entering the lungs. Keep your attention on this and the cooling effect of the breath on the mind and body. Repeat 309 times. This is an ideal practice before sleeping as well as before meditation.

Benefits:
It controls hunger, reduces body heat, balances stomach acids and lowers blood pressure.

Caution: Because one is breathing through the mouth, this practice must never be done in a polluted atmosphere. Practice forceful and rapid inhalations for bronchitis and respiratory problems.

Diet Essentials
Cut out street food from your diet during monsoon, as it can lower your body’s defences and make you seriously ill. Nutritionists restructure your diet and give remedial measures to keep you in perfect health.
• Monsoon diseases are mostly waterborne. Drink boiled, bottled and purified water. Avoid ice that is not made from boiled water. Avoid juices, buttermilk, sherbets, lemon juice, etc. Do not buy golas, kulfis, etc. or other drinks from street vendors. Stay away from all dairy products unless they have been properly pasteurized.
• Stick to well-cooked and hot food. Throw out foods that have a strange odour. Eat raw fruits and vegetables only if you have washed them in purified water and peeled them yourself. Avoid mixed salads outside, as raw, chopped ingredients get spoiled easily. Avoid raw seafood and shellfish.
• Use clean eggs with intact shells. Avoid raw eggs absolutely. Avoid cheese unless it has been refrigerated. Discard foods that are discoloured, mouldy or decayed. Throw out foods from cans or packets that are leaking or bulging.
• Avoid fresh fruits, which have been pre-cut or peeled and kept in the open. Avoid mangoes during rainy season. Take special care with vegetables that tend to contain more insects and worms like cauliflower, cabbage, and spinach. Fruits such as pears, peaches, plums, papayas and bananas are available in plenty and are tasty too. Wash well before consuming. Have nuts and seeds in small quantities.
• Strictly avoid street food. If you choose to eat out in restaurants, opt for foods like soup and cooked meals. Instead of bhel puri, pani puri, sandwich etc. go for grilled or plain sandwiches as they are safer than cold foods. We often hear cases of food poisoning during monsoons. Most of the time, such disasters occur due to poor kitchen management.

Here’s how you can maintain good hygiene:
• Make sure that you separate raw and cooked food both when preparing and storing.
• Do not store meat in the fridge above other foods on to which it might drip blood.
• Foods should not be placed on the table for long without a lid as it attracts bugs.
• Worktops, especially chopping blocks, should be kept scrupulously clean.
• Wash your hands with soap and hot water before handling food and eating it.

Special foods for monsoon maladies
Common cold and cough: Hot chicken soups are very soothing when you are suffering from a cold. Garlic, onions, turmeric and honey should be part of your daily routine. It prevents as well as cures colds and coughs.

Dyssentry/Diarrhea: Add stewed apples, khichdi, pomegranate, toast, mashed/boiled potato and curd to your diet.

Bronchitis: Include dry figs, ginger, carrot juice and onions in your diet.

What to carry in an emergency
If the rains last too long, you may land in an untoward situation. Carrying an emergency kit can rescue and help avert a disaster.

The kit could include:
• Medicines, if you are a chronic patient and some pills for fever, headache, stomach ailments and nausea.
• A torch/flashlight, batteries and a small transistor.
• Insect repellent.
• A pair of clothes, towel, undergarments and a pair of shoes.
• A sheet or a sleeping bag.
• Light foods that are easy to carry.
• A few old newspapers, pen and note-pad.
• List of important phone numbers namely your neighbours’, friends, doctors and some hospitals.
• Matches/lighter and candles.
• Adequate cash, ATM or credit card.

Avoid Road Accidents
During monsoons, accidents are on the rise. If you have a car, a little care and alertness can ensure a safe journey. Follow the rules to avert a disaster.
• Replace cracked tyres and check your tyre pressure at regular intervals. The tyres should be properly balanced and aligned, as it will minimize the risk of skidding off a wet road.
• When your car gets wet, check its electric set up immediately. Check all the electrical components, the ignition system, battery terminal, etc. Ensure the lights are in good condition. Visibility is poor during heavy rains and can cause accidents.
• Keep the body of your car clean and scratch-free to avoid corrosion. A wax layer is a good option for additional protection.
• Be especially careful if you live near the coast, since higher salt content in the air increases corrosion.
• Be extra careful when it’s raining. Drive slowly as it’s difficult to slow down when it’s wet. Avoid braking excessively. Allow for more time between destinations.
• Drive in the middle lane, since water tends to accumulate at the sides. Maintain a larger distance than normal from other vehicles on the road.
• It is risky to drive through stagnant water. If the water level is higher than the bottom of your car doors, stop and take a turn.n