Summer, I must have mentionned it many times already, takes the toll of of us all here in Mumbai. The most common complaint from my friends is about cooking, there is nothing more daunting and torturing than standing in front of a hot stove for hours when it is already steaming hot outside the kitchen.

Many confessed they would just be about fine to live on just veggies, dahi, and salads, but end up cooking more than they want because their in-laws or husband refuse to change their habits. I have others friends who would love to go off the beaten track but don't know how.

I myself am not bound by traditions, and since DH likes his north Indian food in the tiffin, I delegated the task to the maid ages ago. It is not worth the hassle for me to cook these anymore when we can afford a compromise that works for both parties.
And while I love to cook, Summer is that time I keep it to a strict minimum, as a rule (albeit unspoken) I don't spend more than 15 minutes standing in front of my stove in the Summer, a dish can require longer cooking and still be a Summer dish, as long as it doesn't pin me to the kitchen the whole time. I put a list of things that makes it to the menu during the Summer, some continental, some Indians, as long as it fits my no sweat requirement it is fine by me.

Here is the list of dishes that made it to my lunch table (dinner is almost always just fruits and yogurt during the hot months):

Prawn Canapé

Idli with tomato chutney 
A breakfast dish in theory, but try it for lunch, it is filling enough, and if you cook the idli in the rice cooker at the same time you prepare the chutney, you have a a dish in 15 minutes with only about 5 minutes of prep time and stove cooking.

Rocket and mango salad

Aloo methi salad

Potato salad
This is a good old Summer classic of continental cuisine, and it can be made a million way, it all start with boiled and cooled down potatoes that you cube, add mayo, dahi, olive oil or a vinaigrette for the dressing, spring onions, parsley, walnuts, sultanas, chunk of pineapple, or apples or anything else if you wish, and you have a filling dish.

Chicken wraps
You can grill the chicken the night before, of roast a chicken in the oven, make chapati from scratch or buy those precooked one to spare you a sweat session, make a dressing with Mayo or dahi, and season as you wish, with wraps you can let your imagination go wild, and of course is you are vegetarian, you can make paneer or tofu wraps.

Chargrilled chicken served with fries and a garlic mayonnaise
Make the fries in the oven, grill the chicken chunks on a hot griddle, and crush fresh garlic in store bought mayo. A dish ready in 20 minutes because of the fries baking, the chicken needs minutes to grill.

Pasta salads 
Another classic, just cook some pasta the night before, store in a air tight container, add you choice of fresh veggies, or meat, or both, make a dressing with olive oil or mayo, season with herbs, and voila!

Raita served with naans and a green salad
I love a cucumber, tomato and onion raita, but whatever works for you will do great. Naans will cook in minutes, the dough need to rest for an hour at least, so knead it when it isn't too hot yet.

Dosa with dal and chutney 
Dal cooks itself in the pressure cooker for the most part, dosa takes minutes on the stove, and the same applies to a chutney, which you can cook the night before, or early in the morning.

Oven roast chicken and roast tomatoes served with rice 
The ultimate no sweat dish, the chicken cooks along with the tomatoes in one baking dish for about 45 minutes, the rice goes in the rice cooker, all cooks without you having to be more than a few minutes in the kitchen. The chicken needs to be rubbed in mustard and sprinkled in herbs, and you need to remember to pour a little water in the baking dish mid cooking.

Karela fry (bitter gourd) 
Served with chapati or rice and some yogurt (dahi) on the side.

Sushi 
A slightly pricey option, but all you need a little practice to get it right. The rice cooks in the rice cooker before being cooled down, then making the seaweed rolls can be done quickly once you know how. They can be made with cooked prawns and canned tuna over here since raw fish is a risky thing to try. There are tons of vegetarian options as well.

And of course there are all the sandwiches variant I won't list there, too many of them. And contrary to what people might thing, vegetarian sandwiches are as filling as non-veg ones provided you include a protein part to it, be it cheese, paneer, or tofu, or even a rich heavy filling like avocado. If you prefer sticking to Indian food, the best is to downsize. Make it or a vegetable, or a dal dish served with chapati, use fresh dahi or a cucumber salad as a cooling filler side dish. In Summer most people feel less hungry anyway.

Summer takes the toll of just about anybody in Mumbai after a point. But, for many, that is not just the heat and the humidity that become taxing.
When you have kids, it is the mental exhaustion that end up being as sapping as the climate. Every single mothers I know have one sentence on their lips these days : "I can't wait for school to start again". And for most that starts in the second half of June.

Two months of Summer will see moms run around to drop kids to Summer camps, sports classes, and try to have a moment to sit down to catch their breath in the day. Kids will get bored the instant they come home from said classes, and  the days are too hot to do anything outdoor. Plus, there are only that many activities you can plan for them at home without burning yourself out.

My being an introvert, having a breather during my day is vital. Introverts re-energise themselves by being alone and in a quiet environment.
We aren't odd, diseased people, it's just how we roll. All we need in a day is a few hours of no noise, a cup of tea, and a book...or a craft project. Sadly, the school Summer break efficiently kill that breather and for two months I pretty much find myself surrounded by people. Even if said people are my husband and daughter.
I spent my days running to gymnastic class, rushing back home to cook breakfast, lunch, dinner. Ishita yack away the whole day long asking a billion questions and wanting many things. And if we aren't home we are at the playground or at a friend's place. My two months of Summer is a constant stream of social interaction.
All of which, is enough to get an introvert exhausted.

Add the heat to this and comes May end I am on edge. I reach that point at which I make list of all the creative ideas I might have instead of getting involved in them. I cant get involved in anything but liquifying on my bed in a darkened room as this point. 

This past weekend has been particularly extroverted and energy sapping considering my nature. It started Friday night when one of Ishita's friend dropped her birthday party invite for the next day. The party was at 11am, Ishita was in gymnastic class until 10. The plan to go just sit in a park while her class was on was efficiently ruined, I found myself grocery shopping and gift buying instead. Ran back home to get her out of her gym clothes, and back to the party venue in a party dress.
Two of her friends then spent the rest of the afternoon at our place to play. By 5pm I was glad the day was over, and looking at the prospect of a quiet Sunday with minimal work. That is when my downstairs neighbour came up for another of Ishita's friend party that was to take place on Sunday evening.

This had me run to the hospital in the morning to get my scheduled rabies shot, then to the supermarket to get the rest of the grocery shopping done, then to get ourselves to Pizza Hut to book Ishita's July party and secure a weekend, only to learn they were closing for renovation at that time. Straight to Papa John's we went. DH sensing the day would be hectic, proposed we ate a pizza there before heading to the toy store and home. Another gift bought, and back home we went.
Ishita not doing naps anymore submitted me to four hours of "when is the party starting" bouncing off the walls in the process. And, by the time the party did start, our neighbours pressed me to just stay to chat.

A thing I hoped I could have avoided, but neighbourly relationships are something important enough. And here I am on Monday, back to running to gymnastics class at 8.30, and off to Starbucks by 9.
Today a hot cup of tea in a AC coffee shop with no people to entertain felt like an emergency. Just me, my cup, my iPad and soft background music. It is just one hour of my day, but this hour is vital to my personal sanity at this point. Fellow Introverts will understand...extroverts might find it puzzling.

And, while waiting for the rain and back to school, I keep making lists of things to cook, write, tidy, decorate and create.

In my previous post about rabies, I mentioned that the reason why I went through a week of mayhem was because of a stray cat I picked up.

This little one had been roaming around in our society for weeks, and was quite friendly with the kids playing in the garden. We would see her every now and then doing well for herself. Until Sunday May 11th that is.

That day, Ishita managed to go pet her, and the cat took a liking in her but DH and her came back upstairs without the cat. It didn't stop Ishita to keep asking for her, and me to find myself torn between taking said cat and giving her a better life, or leaving her roam around sparing me the trouble of making a cat and a dog cohabitate (it is possible by the way).

We left it at that and took off to go grocery shopping and upon returning home, there she was, skin on bones, caked in mud and looking like she could use a good meal. Upon seeing us she came forward, Ishita was exited and my heart was like molten snow in the sun. There was no way we could leave this poor little baby cat like this, she had no chances of survival the way she looked. Beside, I know cats, I grew up having them around. I could handle that.

I scooped her up, and as soon as we came home poured her some water with a drop of milk to keep her busy while I found a can of tuna I had in my cupboards. I served her a small portion of said tuna only to find her wolfing it down in minutes and wait for the next teaspoon of it. By then, my dog came in and the cat panicked. Expecting that kind of reaction I held the cat preventing her from running away and triggering my dog to go into a "chase the kitty" game. That is when kitty bit me. Right smack in my left thumb. This was the start of my rabies fright, event I will not go into again, you can read it here.

When an animal you can confine and observe bite you, you need to do so for 10 days, and that was the plan. Again, as per my rabies story, the cat started looking weak and a bit disoriented on Tuesday, which had me run back to hospital myself to demand proper and complete treatment.
In the midst of all that madness we managed to get her to see the vet on Wednesday. This initiated a mini drama in the community.

Some of the kids saw me take the cat all bundled in a towel, and instead of asking me, assumed I was going to get rid of her. They ran to an older girl who had been taking care of her to alarm her before throwing themselves in front of our car shouting at me without even asking me what plan I had.
I informed them that the cat was on rabies watch when they tried to get at her. By then, the older girl came and listend to my story and shut the smaller kids up long enough for her to tell us that the cat has been through some constant abuse by a neighbour who hate cats and at one point even had a broken hind leg that reset itself the wrong way and will be permanently weak. She offered to come with us to the vet as she already took her there twice herself.

The result of that vet visit was that the cat was anaemic, and about 2.5 to 3 months of age. And the change of diet and probably jumping off a bed in my home might have strained her only good hind leg. The prescription was a day of rest in a confined area, vitamins in her food and being kept as an indoor pet forever.
I told the girl that came with us I would be happy to keep her and she was super grateful as none of the pet lovers in the building could. We went home, and told all the kitty happy kids the new and called it a night. This was the day we learned she had been given a name by the kids: Mittens.

A name we are going to keep for her. Giving her plenty of rest ended up being beneficial. She got her energy back in no time, enough for me to breathe a sigh of relief. The kids in my society however had a moment of not being happy. They wanted her down in the garden, and a 9 years old who was already the vocal one on Wednesday told me I had no rights to keep her, that she was a common pet and even yelled at me for not being home when he wanted to see her.
I had to put my foot down and raise my voice a little that morning, as I was rushing out to go complete my botched rabies treatment all the way down to South Mumbai.

By the evening, the older girl put him back into place again and told all the kids that the cat was to no longer be an outdoor animal for her own safety. Repeating what I told the kids in the morning. This had them pipe down and listen to me as well. The interesting thing being that none of the parents of these kids were around or even agreed to take care of the cat the right way. I reminded all the kids to always be careful when handling strays, and to seek prompt medical treatment in the even of a bite just the way I did to myself. And of course added that wanting to take care of strays was a wonderful thing, but that should they not be able to approach a cat or a dog, the wise thing to do was to tell an adult about it.

Adults like me who knows where to turn for help. There are many NGOs taking care of strays across India, some have an ambulance service and can come to the rescue of a wounded animal that cannot be approached by people.


As for Mittens, she is doing well, and is a playful little kitty. She now tolerates the dog in her vicinity without hissing, and only give a small hiss should my dog dare trying to sniff in her direction.
There are strong hope of her doing just fine with her canine roomie in the long run. She is constantly trying to sneak in the flower beds past my balcony, which is pretty much my only concern at the moment. We might have to install some nets if she continues wanting to go there. I have no doubt that as she grows she will be ok should she get into them, but right now being a tiny thing with only one strong leg to jump, her hiding there is not a good idea at all.
She knows it is forbidden and already demonstrated some feline smartness trying to sneak past me. Too bad for her, I know cats a bit too well to really fall for her tricks. All in all, I am kept very busy with the new addition to our household.

Disclaimer: this is NOT a post to debate animal rescue, pet care, and healthcare. This is an AWARENESS raising post and a list of info about rabies and it's prevention in India, based on my recent experience. I was planning to tell my story all along, but, Dr Om Shrivastav, who is the Director of department of Infectious diseases at Jaslok Hospital in Mumbai asked me to raise awareness about the need for prompt and accurate rabies treatment and authorised me to publish his name.

With this disclaimer over and hopefully understood by all, I will first share my story and then gives you the guidelines for rabies treatment. Rest assured I'll speak more about my rescue cat in a further post. I just want to keep the two things separated in order to keep this post as short as possible.

On Sunday, I picked up a stray kitten that has been roaming in my society for weeks, and looked like she would not survive much longer outdoor. I am used to be around cats, I know them well enough and this is why I took that chance. You all know however that I have a pet dog as well, and I knew caution was to be exercised which is why I was the one handling the cat all along. Kitty got scared of the dog, and bit me while I was holding her. Knowing what to do in a case of animal bite, I immediately rinsed the wound under water, washed it with soap and applied some antiseptic before heading to the hospital to ask for the rabies preventive treatment. In the hospital I got my first shot of rabies vaccine, and a prescription to come back for a shot on day 3 and again on day 7 being told that it was all that was needed. That already puzzled me slightly because I heard 5 shots was the norm. I googled rabies and prevention extensively only to find out that not only I was right about the 5 shots, but that the hospital also failed to administer a shot of immunoglobulin which is a crucial part of rabies prevention in case of a bite that drew blood. The Indian National Center for Disease Control has a protocol in place which you can read here. It became quite clear to me I had been misinformed. My plan on Monday was to see a physician on Wednesday at the time of my second vaccine dose and bring it up. On Tuesday however, my cat started showing wobbly ness in her hind legs and looked a bit disoriented and weak, which CAN be a sign of rabies in cats. With that new informations I decided not to delay talking to a Physician, and headed back to the hospital. There he first told me that rabies risk was low, added that immunoglobulin should not be administered routinely, but conceded the fact that the 3 doses of vaccine prescribed was incorrect, and upon seeing I got bitten in two places agreed I fell in the category of candidate for immunoglobulin shots. Immunoglobulin dosage varies according to ones weight, for me it was 5 vials that were needed, the hospital had only two and could not find the other 3 in Mumbai. The Physician however told me injecting me with just two would do until the remaining could be found. He asked DH to ask relatives accross the country to hunt the serum down and courier it to us, which shocked me a little. DH spent most of Wednesday trying to find it, the brand we were told to find was a 7k a vial serum of human origin. In his mad search he found that a domestic brand existed at around 400 rupees a unit. I researched it some more and found out the desi version is the Equine Immunoglobulin and wondered if it could be mixed with the human one I received. What became clear at this point was that the physician did not give us all the options and pushed a costly imcomplete treatment on us. DH and I could no longer trust anybody in the hospital and I turned to my network of expats married to Indian friend for the name of a trustworthy Doctor to turn to.

This is how I came to be in the care of Dr Om Shrivastav, who is the director of Infectious diseases in Jaslok Hospital. He is a specialist who knows what to do. I called him immediately, and upon hearing my story on the phone asked to see me. I raced down to South Mumbai immediately, after hearing more of my story he told me that the course of the immunoglobulin treatment should have to be completed with Equine serum, we located the dose I needed and I got injected with it on Thursday. He was shocked to hear the series of mistakes that has been done by healthcare practitioners in my case. Mistakes I will list below:

1) The Casuality department should have injected me with immunoglobulin on Sunday itself, at the site of the bites and then administered the first does of vaccine. This wasn't done, and never even have been explained to me.

2) I got an incomplete prescription for rabies prevention that day too. In case of a bite which drew blood, and without having been immunised previously the post-exposure vaccine doses have to be given on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28. It is FIVE doses NOT 3

3) Upon returning and pointing the flaw and asking for immunoglobulin, the physicians was in the wrong suggesting it was not required as rabies risks are low. He should never have agreed to inject only 2 vials out of 5.

4) the same physician should also have offered the equine serum option upon realising there was a shortage of human one.

5) He should NEVER have even asked DH to ask relatives to buy it and courier it our way. Immunoglobulin is a live serum that need to be kept under specific temperatures not to spoil and can't be shipped via DHL. The serum can only be handled by medical professionals. A spoilt serum injected into a human being could pretty much kill said human.

All this happened in a posh, so called "world class amenities" hospital, complete with glitzy lobby and fancy decor. They dismissed the guidelines out into place by the government of India itself, out of ignorance. Their negligence could have cost me my life if I were not proactive and researched things myself.

Rabies is a virus that is fatal. Once you develop clinical symptoms of the disease it is too late, you are doomed to die. However, the incubation period in humans allows the vaccine to prevent the disease from developing IF and ONLY IF the protocol is followed to the T. 20k people DIE of rabies in India annually due to lack of treatment and negligence from both patients and healthcare specialist. There NO low risk with rabies! you do NOT take any chances with an animal bite! domesticated or wild? Dr Om Shrivastav told me himself that earlier in the month he got a patient who died of rabies after her pet dog bit her. She felt she was safe and didn't get prompt treatment, the price was sadly her life. You get bitten by any animal, domesticated or not, vaccinated pet or not you GO get your rabies shot. The vaccine is 318 rupees a shot, you need 5, Equine immunoglobulin might set you at a thousand rupees or such depending on your weight. I might seem pricey, and a bit of a hassle to get, but remember, all these are far far far FAR cheaper than loosing your own life.

If you get bitten by an animal, again, any animal, here is what you should do in this order :

1) Wash the wound under running water with soap. Washing can remove 60% of the rabies infected saliva at the site of the bite. Pat the wound dry and put antiseptic on it. Head to the hospital as soon as you can.

2) I. The hospital, if you haven't been immunised for rabies before, they should inject you with human or equine rabies immunoglobulin at the site of the bite, then give you the first dose of the rabies vaccine in the arm.

3) After the first shot of vaccine you will need to return for a vaccine dose on day 3, 7, 14 and 28. Which will bring you to a total of 5 rabies vaccine shots. This will keep you immunised for 3 years...however if bitten again in that time span, it does NOT dispense you from not going to the hospital for the next bite. previously immunised people will still need a few shots as a booster, but will be exempted from receiving the immunoglobulin serum.

If in doubt about how you have been treated at a hospital, refer to the Governement of India guidelines and show them to your doctor...INSIST on proper treatment, do not let them dismiss your concern. This protocol has been put into place to save lives and make rabies a preventable disease. If you are living in Mumbai, Dr Om Shrivastav has asked me to let you know he sits at the Jaslok Hospital in Pedder Road, do not hesitate to contact him about rabies, or any other infectious diseases for that matter.

This informations apply to all living or travelling through India. Do not become a statistic and be one of the 20 thousand rabies death India see a year. Know that an animal cannot be tested for rabies while alive, there are no blood test to confirm it. An animal that bit you should be kept confined for 10 days, if it shows a change in behaviour and it's condition deteriorate rapidly, the chance of rabies increases. Once the animal died of a natural death, it should be sent for examination to a laboratory. Only a test performed on the brain of the deceased animal can confirm rabies, but by the time this is done, it could be too late for yourself. In this light, we can all agree that a few jabs in the arms is really a very small price to pay and that the motto should be " Better Safe than Sorry"

As for myself, I am now in the safe and back on track with the treatment, my wrists are a bit sore from the injection of equine immunoglobulin I got yesterday. But the error that could have potentially cost my life in the first hospital I visited is rectified and all I am to do now is get my days 7, 14, and 28 shots which are the one left.

As for the cat? She seems fine, her leg weakness was due to an old injury and a little anaemia, she hasn't deteriorated, but is still being observed by me in my home for any changes, the date at which it can be determined she was not infectious when she bit me is next Tuesday, and of course I am keeping her, but as I said, this is part of another post.

With the Summer in full blast, my quest to spend as little time sweating away in the kitchen continues. Fortunately, coming from a country that loves its salad lunches, I don't lack options. Sure these days I have reached a point at which I just want to be able to cook and bake and am starting to hate freshly tossed whatever. But I also hate flip flops, shorts and tank tops...the joy of hitting the Summer wall.

Summer is in India means mango season. And, while I am not waiting for them as eagerly for them as I wait for peaches and lychees...and of course rain, I still like them enough to include them at lunch time. Last week I experimented with Alphonso mangoes and rocket leaves (knows as arugula by some). Rocket has to be my favourite salad leaf, it has a strong very distinct peppery taste that enhance the taste of just about anything I have tried to pair them with in the past. With this logic, I figured out it would just complement the sweet taste of mangoes well (my grand am used to add pepper to fruit salads to bring out the sweetness).

I ended up tossing together the rocket leaves, mango cubes and a sliced fig (I had two figs left in the fridge I needed to eat quick). I used no dressing, the mango usually gives enough juice and feels creamy enough that it didn't strike me as necessary to add anything. Turned out I was right, on every front. Rocket and mangoes do pair supremely well. The rocket's peppery taste enhance the natural sweetness of the mango. The creaminess of the mango coats the rocket leaves like a dressing and mute the bitter taste it can have when not seasoned. The figs gave a nice splash of colour and a subtle add on taste.

You might notice some eggs in the picture as well. I had a leftover hard boiled egg in the fridge as well that I used as a side to my salad along with some crackers. I experimented that day because I had a lot of small bits of things left in the fridge than needed to be used before it went bad. This is how some interesting salads come to exist in the first place.