Neer or Beer! Time to Stay Cool this Scorching Summer while It’s Freaking Hot Out There
Mangaluru: “Hot town, Summer in the city; Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty; Been down, isn’t it a pity; Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city; All around, people looking half-dead; Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head…”-those lyrics from the 1966 song “Summer in the City” by The Lovin’ Spoonful group is quite a perfect match to the scorching hot weather people are feeling in this coastal city. Summer is synonymous with cold “beer”, days by the pool, and frozen desserts and Ice Creams at Ideal Ice cream parlours, fruit juices, watermelons, and off-course, lots of colds “Neer”, that’s Tulu for “Water”. It’s all about beating the heat. However, foods that seem like chill choices may have the opposite effect also.
As predicted the weatherman that the city will see some rain on Thursday or Friday, but that never happened because the weatherman is not always right! So, with the scorching heat pounding the city, people are just consuming anything that will keep them cool and also quench their thirst. Water aka Neer has been the most wanted product to keep oneself from dehydration. Water is Life during Scorching Sunny Weather in the City-there is nothing else to beat the good benefits of water during hot weather. No doubt that water is one of the best and cheapest sources to keep oneself cool and hydrated during scorching weather. Each summer, hundreds of people are hospitalized for dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke and other potentially serious conditions.
“I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream-for Ideal Ice Cream”- that’s right, and which other World Famous Ice Cream like Ideal Ice Cream can satisfy your craving for Ice Creams, shakes, foods, juices etc -it’s time to head to Ideal Ice Cream outlets in town, and enjoy the varieties of ice Creams and other items, to beat the heat. And if you are too lazy to go to the ice cream shack, you still can enjoy them by taking them home or ordering them through delivery firms like Zomato, Swiggy and others. Who can stay away from not having the “Gadbad ice cream”, which is the most popular ice cream in Mangaluru city? You can ask anybody about this flavour- and they will all give a thumbs Up! Since the beginning, innovation has been a mainstay of Ideal Ice Cream and the famous Ice Cream concoction ‘Gadbad’ bear’s testimony to this. Ask anyone what Ideal Ice Cream is most famous for and you will get the answer ‘Gadbad’. Apart from Gadbad, try the many other flavours, and be happy this summertime.
Demand for cold beverages and ice creams has increased owing to the heatwave and hot weather in Mangaluru. As temperatures continue to soar across the coastal areas due to heatwave conditions, people are turning to cool drinks to help beat the heat and quench their thirst. Usually, the cool drinks sales pick up after April. However, this year, the vendors are already doing brisk business. A milk booth owner near the state bank bus stand says that it is the first time since Covid-19 that they are having a busy season during the summer. They sell a variety of juices including lime, badam milk, mango pulp, kokum, lassi, and buttermilk. Juices and other milk-based beverages had a few takers till recently. However, we are seeing a jump in sales this summer. We expect the sales to increase further from April, they said.
Seetharam, (Aloysians should know him since he had been with Shenoy Ma’am “Mangli” for decades) now running a sugarcane juice shop near St Aloysius College, Lighthouse Hill road, who said many are turning to sugarcane juice to quench their thirst as the heat is unbearable. “From my experience, the sales are better this year than the previous two years. The sales see an uptick after 4 pm as many people who stay indoors throughout the day come out,” said Seetharam. “There is high demand for ice candies and bars at all the shacks where our products are being sold,’’ said Mukund Kamath, the Managing Director of Ideal Ice Cream. Whereas, those selling aerated drinks produced locally say sales are not encouraging due to the hike in GST rates.
With no signs of cool weather, the bright sunny weather with rising temperatures is here already, and citizens are feeling the heat of it. Although there are many ways/sources you can beat the heat and keep yourselves cool and comfortably happy, water is one source which can beat the rest in providing comfort – that’s right, water is life! Be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, especially if you’re going to be outside. When doing outdoor sports/activities, bring plenty of cold water and try to stay in the shade as much as possible. A spray bottle with cold water can help you avoid heat exhaustion too if you want.
Drink plenty of cool water. During summer, you sweat more, and you have to replenish the water in your body. So drink a nice cold glass of water, and keep a bottle with you always. A tip to stay cooler is to fill up a water bottle and put it in the freezer for 30 min to an hour, and freeze another to take outdoors and the “iced water” will last much longer. Don’t risk dehydration. You can’t sweat if you’re dehydrated. Find a friend, go for a swim, have a water fight, or just dump buckets of water on each other. If you don’t have access to a swimming pool, spending time at the beach will be an ideal thing.
Take cold showers. If you live in an area experiencing water shortages, skip this one. Otherwise, a quick three-minute cold shower is a fantastic way to cool down. The cooler you run your shower, the less heat and steam you’ll need to remove from your living space. Use the exhaust fan if it’s vented outdoors. Yet another way to have a pleasant and comfortable sleep is to spread a wet bath towel on your bed and sleep on it with a fan directly pointing at you. It feels so refreshing- I have tried it. You should too!
Other than Neer and Beer, there are other things people are consuming to keep themselves cool to beat the scorching hot weather, like drinking tender coconut water, sugarcane juice, ice apple, watermelon juice, lime juice/lime soda, other fruit juices, cold milkshakes, ice-creams etc. The sunny skies are perfect for beach trips, picnics and other outdoor adventures, and you can’t wait! But before you go out and enjoy yourself, make sure you’re protected from the extreme heat that the summer season can bring. As temperatures rise in different locations, we become vulnerable to heat cramps, exhaustion, dehydration and heatstroke.
Does the scorching heat tempt you to guzzle down some cool sugarcane juice, watermelon juice stored in a glass container (with lots of sugar and other additives added into it), old-fashioned squeezed musubi (sweet-lime) Orange or pineapple Juice, artificial flavoured Ice-Creams, Golas etc; etc; at a roadside corner? Hold yourself back. The mouth-watering drinks and foods sold in the open might land you in a hospital with dysentery. Or, worse still, typhoid. With the onset of summer, the number of juice centres and cut fruit vendors has mushroomed; most of them do not have licences. Experts warn that the seemingly innocuous food items sold at such outlets could prove harmful, as they are prepared in unhygienic conditions. The question is what the heck is our MCC Health department doing by letting all these roadside food/juice vendors who are serving their clients under harsh and non-hygienic conditions?
Cases of gastroenteritis, jaundice, typhoid, dysentery and other diseases that spread through the consumption of contaminated water and food items are trickling in. They peak during March, April, May and June as people continue to throw caution to the winds and drink contaminated water and spoiled food items. If you look around Mangaluru, you will notice there are a few strangers in town who have come down from out of town, mainly North India, and have all started up street juice vending shops selling freshly squeezed Musumbi, Orange or Pineapple juice, even Rajasthan Falooda/Milkshakes. Even though the freshly squeezed juice may taste awesome, the way the juice is made under non-hygienic conditions may ruin your health.
Even though you feel very thirsty, you should seriously think of your health and stay away from consuming water, sugarcane juice, and other openly prepared juices from roadside vendors which are the main culprits behind the spurt in cases of gastroenteritis, jaundice and other water and food-borne diseases during the summer. So your best bet is to drink packaged water, thereby avoiding any problems arising towards health. Hundreds of people around the world also die every year from heat-related conditions, which can be completely avoided if preventive measures are taken.
