Monsoon! The best of the seasons?

Rajesh Nathani

January 26, 2018

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The First Rains

The parched earth and its denizens eagerly await the onset of monsoons! Nothing is better than the smell of the first monsoon showers on the baked, water-deprived earth. And this year, the month of June was fairly dry, but July has more than compensated. The lake levels (supplying Mumbai) have increased from just 9% to almost 78% of capacity. It has rained quite a lot and with many disruptions, but nobody is minding it.

Children have a special bond with the monsoon

Children especially love the rains! It is almost a ritual in many families to get wet in the first shower. Kids love to splash about in the puddles, though the sight of children floating their paper boats in streams is fast disappearing!

Unfortunately, like with all good things, there is a downside to the rains too (think cheese, chocolates). The rains, the humidity, and the wide fluctuations in temperature expose us to many monsoon-related illnesses.

Sensible Precautions But Do Enjoy!

It is all the more important for harried parents to take common-sense measures during the rainy season:

Do remember to store food properly – It is best to cook only as much as you can eat in one meal. The combination of high heat and humidity makes food spoil that much quicker with the inevitable tummy upset! Typhoid and Hepatitis A could strike too! It may not be practical for most households to adhere to cooking and eating one meal at a time. We store food in our house all the time, and it lasts us for a few meals. Do remember that the safe temperature food zone is < 5° C or > 60° C. It means you cannot keep food outside the refrigerator/fridge for more than one hour before reheating and more than two hours after heating.
Mosquitoes require stagnant pools of water to breed and thrive. Try to ensure that there are no puddles. There should be free drainage of water into the drains. Mosquitoes carry malaria & dengue, among other illnesses. Even if we don’t get these major illnesses, many children develop severe allergic reactions to mosquito bites that can be very painful and itchy.
Do bathe your children at least twice a day – We see the largest number of children with abscesses in June and July, and this is again due to bacterial proliferation due to high heat and humidity.
Common colds and viral and other bacterial infections of the respiratory tract. Do not forget your flu shot!
Warn your children, especially the older ones, against swimming in unknown waters like ponds, waterfalls, rivers, or the sea, even if they are good swimmers. Every year, at least 400-500 monsoon-related deaths occur, with a large portion of them due to drowning. Older children and adolescents want to go out with their friends on a picnic. Talk to them and warn them about possibly fatal consequences. I do hope you have taught your children to swim. It is an essential life skill.