10 hot things to do this summer

It’s been a while since I experienced the extremities of the May heat in Ahmedabad.
For several years, we would take off to cooler climes but this year, for one reason or the other, we decided to stay in Ahmedabad and I found myself sweating and struggling with the dry temperatures.

When I got tired of grumbling about the heat, I decided to turn it around on its head and said to myself, “Why not do stuff that will make the summer memorable; why not make the best of the heat?” Making a to-do list of activities and interests would be a great way to start. To start the ideation, here is a list of ten items that may be of common interest.

l The first thing to do is to lose a few kilos and a few inches from the right places. Heat is the best friend of weight loss. Work out in non air-conditioned environs and go for walks in the morning and evening. Watch what you eat and see the fat dissolving!

l Go to a spa and salon. For men who think spas are for women only, they must try out the rejuvenating feeling that a spa offers. Get a detox and your body will thank you for it.

l Get your annual medical check-up done. Unless the company you work for goads you for one, this essential task is hardly attended to. For youngsters and non-working women, annual medical check-ups may not be a priority, but the importance of proper investigation cannot be overstated. Forewarned is forearmed.

Get a B-12 and D3 test done. With Gujarat predominantly a vegetarian state, it is observed that more and more people are recording much deficient levels of Vitamin B-12.

Vitamin D3, or ‘Sunshine Vitamin’ as it is called, is also on a decline, with everyone shunning the heat and using sunscreen lotions quite liberally. D3 is an essential vitamin for bone, muscle and neurological functions.

Do some volunteering! Teach a child, buy a balloon or an ice-cream for that kid on the street, visit an old-age home, and even do a karaoke with the visually impaired! Do random acts of kindness.

Take up a hobby. Enrol into a photography, dance, or pottery class. Go go-carting, rock climbing, chase a passion, or a hobby.

Spend hours soaking in the waters of a club hotel’s swimming pool. One at a friend’s farmhouse will also do. What better way to deal with 45 degree Celsius temperatures?

Ride a bike or a motorcycle. Feel the sun on the face and wind in the hair. For those who haven’t touched a bicycle since schooldays, they should reinvent the biking experience – so good for strengthening the knee and back muscles.

Take a self-defence class. With rate of uncertainty in society escalating, taking a self-defence class will be useful for both boys and girls. Girls need to protect themselves and responsible boys need to protect the girls around them!

Watch a horror film. There are many film buffs who hit the movie theatres first day, first show. Let Friday nights be reserved for films. Families can do the movie rounds on weekends.

With a constantly growing multiplex culture and worldwide release of films, movie watching is back being the top entertainment source, thus beating a lean period of piracy and vcd. But make it different this summer: Watch. A. Horror. Movie.

Eat gola every night. Hanging out with friends and family for the flavoured ice is the favourite pastime of this state. Multiple choices of flavours, pure reverse osmosis-ed water and hangout joints simply make the experience better. Just watch the sugar intake, will you?

People, who live in extreme cold, are learning to enjoy the cold. May us, who live in scalding heat, learn to do the same. Find ways and means to enjoy the heat!

The writer is an entrepreneur and educationist.