HEALTH
- Actually not too much of a problem in Delhi and most other big cities
of India. The city is equipped with large and modern hospitals and
plenty of doctors all over the place should you ever need them. Chemists
shops are to be found in practially every market place. There is no
problem with medicines either. The list of common medicines (available
without prescriptions) and their usage is listed below:
| Disprin |
Minor aches including headaches. Similar to Panadol or
Tylenol. |
Crocin |
Effective Paracetamol plus analgesic tablets |
| Flagyl 400 |
You would need this if your stomach gives way. |
Iso Gel |
If you want your stomach to give way |
| Mexeron |
Anti nausea and vomits |
Baralgan |
Painkiller, used for stomach aches. |
| Micropyrin |
Pain killer |
Combiflam |
Strong pain killer, often used for muscular pains. |
| Dettol / Savlon |
Disinfectant antiseptic lotions. |
Alex / Strepsils |
Anti tussive cough lozenges |
As in most of the world, if your taking in an injection, do insist on a
fresh and disposable syringe and a needle. One more thing, the water is
not as bad in India as it is made out to be. Nothing will happen to you
if you drink water in most places. Water in restaurants and hotels is
absolutely safe. (They wouldn't want bad publicity, would they?). Only
that you should not have tap water just about anywhere. A bottle of
mineral water (available everywhere), sold at about Rs14 a bottle, might
be handy.
WEATHER
- A bad time to come to India, is during the summer months. It is
really hot, very dry and dusty. Good chances of getting a sunstroke
unless you take precautions. So what you should do is choose your
clothing carefully. Light cotton is the best. Try to keep your head
covered. You might get tempted to move around in bermudas, short skirts,
sleeveless garments and the like, but we would advice against them. You
should not wear such stuff between 10AM and 6PM (in the summers)
definitely. If not exposure to the heat, the exposure to the sun will
give you sun burns. Also, Delhi is at its polluted worst during these
months.
It is common to mistake a heatstroke for an ordinary flu/fever . The
ways to distinguish are as follows: 1. A patient with sunstroke has dry
skin, whereas a normal person has moist skin. 2. Medicines to control
fever induce sweating. As persons suffering from heat stroke do not have
enough water in their system to sweat, the fever medicines are not
effective. 3. The body temperature recorded in the skin (armpit) of a
person suffering from heatstroke will be the same or greater than the
temperature recorded in the mouth. However, in other persons, normal or
sick, the temperature recorded in the mouth is one degree more than the
skin temperature. Precaution: Have lots of fluids, water, juices, soft
drinks etc. Yeah, beer tastes great but it also is a diuretic. So even
if you have beer, please do remember to have plenty of water. Something
that you could use is a packet of glucose, marketed under the brand name
Glucon-D or Glucon-C. Mix in a tumbler of cold water with a pinch of
salt and drink it up. This is also the thing to have, in case you get a
sun stroke or a mild heat stroke. Besides this, for oral rehydration,
you can buy a packet of Electral (from any chemist) and mix with water
and drink. That should help you to remain healthy and enjoy your trip to
India.
SCAMS -
It is not too uncommon to hear tourists being scammed some way or the
other by local traders, transporters etc. Some of them are easy to catch
and some are very craftily created. Here is a list
to familiarise you with some of them. Its a long list, some of the
entries are even hilarious.
SOCIAL -
Indians are a little touchy about their religion and the like. Try and
not offend them. In most places of worship, you would be expected to
take your shoes off. In some places you might have to take off your belt
(leather) too. Women are to be respected. Stay away from beggars and
touts.
If you are invited for dinner at someone's place, you can afford to be
about 15 minutes late. Most Indian foodis eaten with the hands without
cutlery, so feel free! Women all over the world like flowers and they
would be appreciated if you carry some for the hostess. Post dinner, an
appreciative comment about how nice the pulao was or how
delicately the chicken was cooked might get you another invitation.
