Tuesday 20 February 2018

THE WINDOW SEAT



Himalayas


When it comes to air travel I am a window addict. While doing web check in I go first for the window away from the wings for a better and uninterrupted view during takeoff and landing and if I fail to do so I try my level best to plead, charm and coax the airlines booking agent to give me a good window seat. The thrill of taking off from the ground to a Google map view and to see the known landmarks of the source and destination cities from the air as the birds only see is a treat I would never like to miss. Seeing the world from above gives you a different perspective on the world. Patterns emerge, nature shines and cities feel colossal. 


The tea gardens of Kerala
The fabulous landscapes of farmland or forested areas are certainly a view you can’t see from the ground. Farm fields take on the appearance of a scattered checker board with circles of wheat and alfalfa, while shadows cast from surrounding hills create a view that is unmatched. Countless people would like to a climb mountain to see the summit. If you don’t have the time or the expertise to climb a mountain, why not take a plane and enjoy the view of beautiful mountain tops from a window seat? You can enjoy the view of numerous peaks and valleys at the same time.

The city lights of Dubai
I live in Lucknow and if I take an early morning flight to Delhi then from the right windows I can see the sun rising from the Himalayas, which in turn goes to the left side if I am flying towards Kolkata in the east. Sunsets are beautiful and are enjoyed by many people on beaches or even against the skyline of a bustling city, but there is nothing like a sunset seen from an airplane.  Only from an airplane does a sunset act as a backdrop to the clouds and a dimming blue sky, making the horizon seem only an arm’s reach away. While it can sometimes be tiring to wait at the airport late at night, nighttime flights allow you to enjoy the remarkable view of city lights at night. These amazing views are really breathtaking as the entire landscape seems to come to life with the intricate patterns of bright lights that define communities across the country.

Another breathtaking sight to see from an airplane is a series of beautiful islands against the backdrop of the vast ocean. Seeing spots of white and green against the blue hue of the sea certainly makes for a marvelous sight – one you really won’t ever see unless you are in an airplane.  The Great Barrier Reef tops my list in this category and a flight from Brisbane to Cairns with a right window seat is simply divine!
Dubai - crisscross motorways
While you may be tired of seeing advertisements on television or while browsing the internet, you may be surprised to see advertisements on the roof of a building as you start your descent.

Cityscapes are absolutely stunning and when while landing in Sydney you are flying over the beautiful Sydney harbour, identifying the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from high above brings the same shivers in my body as it did the first time I saw them from far above. Similarly the Wankhede Stadium and the Marine Drive in Mumbai the Howrah Bridge, Vivekananda Setu and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Big Ben, the Westminster and the London Eye in London also give me the same joy which I used to experience as a child. While approaching JFK International the view of the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan Island is stunning on a clear day the city lights of Dubai and Paris are no less spectacular. Los Angeles, Beijing and Delhi are often engulfed in smog and are very disappointing. On a clear day in LA if you are landing from the east you can see the downtown, and Hollywood if you know where to look, even the hillside Hollywood sign!
Sydney harbour
Some landings are simply spectacular. Wellington’s Beehive parliament is an identifiable landmark as we circle the airstrip but as we approach it from sea side rock fangs lashed by waves and brooding hills give way to one of the world's remarkable runways which seems as if someone had simply widened an urban street and decided to land jets on it. Suddenly, cramped wooden houses whip past, so startlingly close that you can almost peep into their living rooms. I couldn't help but wonder what it was like to live in what I discovered later was Bridge Street in the suburb of Rongotai. As planes land, its inhabitants must endure a regular roaring cataclysm, enough to rattle porcelain on the sideboard and the teeth in grandma's head. A mechanical wind must rip washing from their garden lines and toss it into stunted trees. It seems amazing that they just get on with their everyday business while I'm hurtling at 250km/h in an aluminium tube towards a close encounter with concrete.
Over Tames River, London
Land by day in LA and you see an urban nightmare. By night, it's the great American dream, a fantasy cobweb strung with lights and Californian promise. Fly from the south into New York's LaGuardia airport and the plane usually tracks up the East River with the whole Manhattan skyline out the left window. If you approach from the other direction, you'll have to settle for the New York Mets baseball park and Flushing Meadows' tennis courts. While flying into Washington DC's Ronald Reagan airport insist on getting the left window. You come in fairly steeply over the Potomac River and as the plane banks you see the whole of the National Mall from Lincoln Memorial to Capitol Hill, just like the opening of a political-thriller movie.

The cricket stadium and the beach

For me, though, there are few aircraft views to beat flying from Jammu to Srinagar. Just get a window seat, right or left and enjoy the Himalayas. Another heaven is Queenstown in New Zealand. You go there to trek the Milford Sound but from the airplane window you have the whole of the New Zealand Alps as a frozen pavlova below you, cut through by glacial lakes and dark valleys. As your plane descends, the peaks get closer, like a shark's mouth opening to swallow you up. You skim over a snowy ridge and straight up Lake Wakatipu with mountains on either side of the wingtips.

Approaching Guarulhos International Airport, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Lots of airports provide the great alpine views you'd imagine: Aspen in Colorado, Lukla airport in Nepal, Innsbruck in Austria, Geneva in Switzerland but Srinagar in Kashmir is matchless. Any short ride across the Alps is splendid: Geneva-Venice, Zurich-Milan, Munich-Zagreb. For the Rockies, try Vancouver-Calgary, Vancouver-Whitehorse, Las Vegas-Denver, or any route that crosses Colorado. In the Andes, you can't beat flying from La Paz either to Lima or Santiago. Onwards from there, directly south to Punta Arenas unite mountains and fjords in a spectacle to make the soul sing.
The world's best landing is sadly no more. When I first flew into Hong Kong from the right-hand side of the aircraft, the landing at old Kai Tak airport was beyond thrilling. The plane's wheels practically twanged the antennae atop apartment blocks and blew the toupees of plane-spotters on a car park roof. You could see the wrinkles on the faces of Chinese grannies on their balconies, and drying laundry, and peer into flats where televisions flickered.Pilots had to rely on their nerves and stick-and-rudder skills to navigate what they called the "Kai Tak heart attack". Pilots flew across one of the world's most densely populated harbours and had to veer sharply at low altitude, on spotting an infamous orange-and-white checkerboard, in order to line up with the runway. In the typhoon season, winds and poor visibility added to the drama. For passengers agog at windows, it was however a tilting world of close urban encounters.
Bosphorus Strait, Istambul

The world is really a beautiful place that can be enjoyed more fully from 30,000 feet. The amazing views from the airplane window will give you a new appreciation for Mother Earth. The next time you fly for business or a vacation, take a moment to appreciate these spectacular views and make your trip all the more enjoyable.


Monday 12 February 2018

COMMON COLD – COMMON AND UNCOMMON KNOWLEDGE




 The common cold is something that afflicts many of us almost every winter.  Typical symptoms associated with common cold are well known to both doctors and patients but there are tons of things we don’t actually know about it. Over half of patients start by developing a sore throat followed by congestion in the sinuses and the nose, sneezing and a runny nose. These symptoms are usually accompanied by fever, cough, and hoarseness which may outlast them sometimes by a few weeks. High fevers, are however, rare from common cold alone.
Other less common symptoms of common cold include headache, decreased appetite, muscle aches, sore throat and post-nasal drip that cause cough on lying on the back. Patients are at their most infectious during the first 24 hours but they continue to remain infectious for the duration of the symptoms. As the cold progresses, the discharge from your nose will initially be runnier but will thicken and may even turn yellow. However, this is quite normal and there is rarely any need for antibiotics.
In most cases, the common cold goes away within five to ten days although a few symptoms can last for as long as three weeks among certain individuals.



Spread:
Due to the ease with which the common cold virus gets transmitted from the mouth, nose or sneezed or coughed as droplets by an infected individual or from the hand of one individual to another’s hand can also result in transmission if the second person proceed to rub or touch his/her nose or eyes, a new infection takes root. That is the reason why nearly half the family members, flatmates or roommates also end up getting infected. There is also a high rate of transmission of colds in day care facilities and schools.




Prevention:
To lower your chances of getting infected:

·         Hand washing: Adults and children should wash their hands after nose wiping, using the bathroom, preparing food, eating, etc.
·         Keep your environment sterile – your priority should be to disinfect commonly touched surfaces such as door knobs, sink handles, sleeping matters, etc with an EPA approved disinfectant.
·         Stop the spread of germs by using instant had sanitizers.
·         Replace cloth towels with paper towels when using public facilities.
·         Drink plenty of fluid to keep your immune system working at the optimal level.
·         Consume a healthy diet with plenty of vitamins and minerals to optimize your immune health.
·         Avoid using antibiotics unless they are really needed.
·         Eat yogurts containing “active cultures” as they may help prevent the common cold.


Here are 10 interesting things about Common Cold

1. Its name is a misnomer
The thing about the common cold is that there’s nothing common about it, because it’s actually a collective term for more than 200 viruses that each have their own way of getting around the human body’s defenses. Since common cold symptoms can be caused by so many viruses, it has not been possible to develop a simple cure for the infection.
The common cold should not be mistaken for influenza, which can make you ill for much longer, has more severe symptoms, and can result in hospitalization or lead to serious health problems including pneumonia.

2. The “cold” part is a bit complicated
Scientists aren’t certain sure whether lower temperatures affect a virus’ pathogenicity, but they do know that the common cold spreads more easily in winter because we tend to spend more time indoors in closed quarters.

3. Colds dry out protective barriers
During wintertime, air tends to be drier, and this can lead to the protective mucus in our nasal cavities drying up when we breathe in. As a result, the body cannot do its job of catching potentially dangerous microbes before they reach our respiratory system. When you get a runny nose from a cold, it’s because your body is fighting back and trying to compensate for the dried up mucus.

4. Common colds are more common than we realize
While adults suffer an average of two to three colds per year, children can experience up to eight or perhaps even more. A survey conducted in the US in 2012 found that colds decreased productivity by 26%. Yet another survey found that colds cost the US economy some $25 billion per year. We do not have such authentic statistics from India so far.

5. Rest is the best cold medicine
Our bodies go into overdrive when we’re sick, doing their best to try and cure whichever ailment we may be suffering from. This means that just going about your daily routine as usual can have a negative impact on your health, and your brain. A study published in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity found that those with colds experienced poorer alertness, a negative mood, and psychomotor slowing. In other words, they experienced muddied thought processes and slower reaction times.

6. Don’t lie flat on your back when resting
Gravity can actually cause further congestion in your nasal passages, leading to it dripping down your throat, making it sore and causing you to cough. The best position to rest in when you have a cold is to prop yourself upright with pillows to reduce the cough receptor irritation by constant post nasal drip in the back of your throat.

7. A cost-free way of getting better quicker is…
A study conducted back in 2009 found that patients who had more empathetic doctors were sick one day less on average than those who did not. Patients with empathetic doctors were found to have double the levels of IL-8, which is a protein molecule that the body releases to fight colds.

8. Light exercise won’t go amiss
You obviously need to rest when you’re ill, but doing some light exercise can also help to boost your immune system. Regular exercise can help your body to fight back against germs. An explanation for this, according to the US National Library of Medicine, is that exercise helps to flush out germs from the lung and airways.

9. Vitamin C isn’t as effective at treating common colds as we think
Back in 2013, some 29 separate trials regarding vitamin C supplements failed to reduce incidences of colds. Huge doses did have small effects, but they were almost negligible.

10. Gargling a lot is good
A Japanese study found that participants who gargled regularly with water exhibited an almost 40% decrease in colds when compared to the control group. Try gargling with a quarter-teaspoon of salt mixed in with eight ounces of warm water.


So how should we treat Common Cold?
Although it is possible for you to improve the symptoms of common cold using a variety of medical therapies, they do not cure, shorten or prevent the illness. It is advised to try and keep onerself comfortable by get as much rest as possibly, drink lots of fluids and treat the symptoms. Some of the common ways to treat the symptoms of cold are:-
·         Gargle warm salt water to soothe sore throat
·         Inhaling steam with or without essential oils and herbal aromas can temporarily relieve nasal congestion
·         OTC remedies containing decongestants help relive congestion and stop secretions. They can also be used to stop cough if I is triggered by mucus in the throat.
·         Antihistamines are used to relive symptoms of watery eyes and runny nose.
·         According to some studies, zinc lozenges can shorten the duration of common cold symptoms.
·         Antibiotics should not be used to treat common cold and its symptoms.

Ayurveic Options:
·         The Clove Bud, nature’s cough drop
·         Tulsi (Basil), Turmeric and Ginger Tea for fever,
·         Ginger-Baking Soda Bath for body aches, chills, and fever
·         Ginger Juice for nausea
·         Turmeric, Salt and Cayenne Gargle for sore throat 

Diet:

Healthy options include oatmeal, kitchari, homemade chicken soup, basmati rice, and chicken broth, etc. Avoid dairy, meat (broth is better!), all sugar except small amounts of honey, raw or cold foods, cold beverages, and all processed foods.