Suraksha
Keep the first aid box where guests can find it
A first aid box nobody else can find is not a first aid box. Same shelf, never moved, and tell the house where it is. Check the expiry on the ointments every Diwali when you clean anyway.
Jugaads for “first aid”
17 resultsSuraksha
Turmeric on a small cut
A pinch of haldi on a clean minor cut is the standard household response and it does help stop the bleed. Wash first with clean water. Anything deep, dirty or still bleeding after ten minutes needs a doctor, not a kitchen.
Suraksha
Torch and slippers under the bed
One torch and one pair of slippers in the same spot under the bed, always. Getting up in a night power cut with a broken glass or a snake in the room is exactly when you cannot find either.
Suraksha
Salt water gargle before you reach for medicine
Half a spoon of salt in warm water, gargled three times a day, genuinely eases a sore throat. If it comes with fever for more than two days, that is a doctor's problem now.
SurakshaNeem leaf smoke for mosquitoes
Dry neem leaves smouldered in a steel plate for five minutes clear a room of mosquitoes without a coil. Do it with the windows open and step out while it burns — smoke in a shut room is not the goal.
Suraksha
Camphor for mosquitoes in a closed room
Burn a small piece of kapoor in a closed room for a few minutes, then air the room before going in. Never sleep in a room with it burning, and keep it away from children and curtains.
Suraksha
Photograph your documents once
Photograph Aadhaar, PAN, licence, insurance and the house papers, and keep them in DigiLocker or your own cloud account. The day one is lost is not the day you want to be starting this.
Suraksha
Neem oil on the window mesh
Wipe diluted neem oil on the window mesh at dusk. Mosquitoes avoid the smell and it does not fill the room with vaporiser fumes. Redo it after rain.
Suraksha
Emergency numbers written on paper
Two or three numbers on paper stuck inside a kitchen cupboard door. When a phone is dead, lost, or in the hands of a panicking child, a written number is the one that works.
Mausam
Umbrella in the bag from June, not from the first rain
The rule that actually works: the umbrella lives in the bag from the first week of June to the end of September, whether or not the sky looks like anything. Every year the first soaking is the one where it was at home.
Paisa
Ask for the price before the service, every time
Electricians, plumbers and mechanics all quote differently before and after the work. Agreeing the number first is not rude — it is the normal way this works, and everyone expects to be asked.
Rasoi
Curd sets faster in a warm vessel
In winter, rinse the setting vessel with hot water first and wrap it in a towel inside a closed casserole. Milk that took all night sets in five hours. Do not disturb it while it sets — a shaken pot gives you watery dahi.
Ghar
Toothpaste on a scratched screen? No — use it on the wall
White toothpaste on a dry cloth lifts pencil, crayon and scuff marks off a painted wall without taking the paint with it. Test one corner first on a dark wall. It does not fix scratched screens, whatever the internet says.
Paani
Rice water for the plants
The water from rinsing rice carries starch and a little nutrition, and plants take it well. Let it cool first, and skip it if you salted the water.
Paani
Cloth over the tap for morning water
In areas where the supply runs muddy after rain, tie a folded cotton cloth over the tap mouth for the first bucket. It catches the visible grit. This is not purification — it is a pre-filter, and drinking water still needs boiling or an RO.
Rasoi
Burnt kadhai: hot water and a bit of patience
Do not attack a burnt pan with steel wool straight away. Pour in hot water with a spoon of salt or baking soda, leave it half an hour, and the black lifts with a wooden spatula. Scrubbing first only polishes it in.
Ghar
Doormat on both sides of the door
One mat outside catches the grit, one inside catches what the first one missed. Two cheap mats cut how often you mop more than any single expensive one.
That is all 17 of them. बस, इतना ही।