So, I have been down with a cold for the last week or so. There is something particularly horrendous about having a cold when it's hot. And believe me it's hot. In Hindi, there isn't the poetic contrast of hot and cold, but they get the idea. In fact, since the seasons and food and medicines are largely based around the principles of heating and cooling, people are even more sympathetic to my predicament.
Unsurprisingly, my cold gets a lot of unsolicited (and solicited) advice. As much as it sucks, they tell me in very different words, you have to eat things that heat you up when you have a cold. I have been fed honey with cinnamon (delicious, but means that I can't drink water for half an hour afterward) and been compelled to put turmeric and black pepper on the banana I was about to enjoy for breakfast. I was denied cold water in favor of hot, and told to eat more onions (for regulating the body temperature). More than once a lovely maternal woman has heard me cough and sent me for a pen and paper so she can write down a whole new list of remedies.
The one suggestion that has surprisingly worked is a natural remedy called sualin. It's a compressed pill of spices that really quiets my cough. It has one annoying side effect though: it makes my mouth black.
So for the most part, I have been treating my cold by sleeping a lot, waking up, drinking hot water, sucking on sualins, and watching russell peters and say yes to the dress on youtube with a black mouth.
Feel free to comment with more suggestions, I'm thinking of starting a cold remedy blog.
Love,
Violet
Unsurprisingly, my cold gets a lot of unsolicited (and solicited) advice. As much as it sucks, they tell me in very different words, you have to eat things that heat you up when you have a cold. I have been fed honey with cinnamon (delicious, but means that I can't drink water for half an hour afterward) and been compelled to put turmeric and black pepper on the banana I was about to enjoy for breakfast. I was denied cold water in favor of hot, and told to eat more onions (for regulating the body temperature). More than once a lovely maternal woman has heard me cough and sent me for a pen and paper so she can write down a whole new list of remedies.
The one suggestion that has surprisingly worked is a natural remedy called sualin. It's a compressed pill of spices that really quiets my cough. It has one annoying side effect though: it makes my mouth black.
So for the most part, I have been treating my cold by sleeping a lot, waking up, drinking hot water, sucking on sualins, and watching russell peters and say yes to the dress on youtube with a black mouth.
Feel free to comment with more suggestions, I'm thinking of starting a cold remedy blog.
Love,
Violet
Do Indian mothers have their own equivalent of my five things that will cure 95% of complaints?
ReplyDeleteSort of. I would say it's something like paratha, paratha, partha, tradition, lose weight haha.
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