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With summer just around the corner, many find it tricky to live up against its increasing heat. For those who do not have the advantage of using air-cooling machines at home or office, it is even more complicated to find respite in a hot summer day, transpiring into a stuffy night.

It is therefore to your advantage if you can start your day with a cool shower before setting out for everyday drudgery. It is practical to wrap oneself in clothes of lighter fabric and texture during this time. Carrying an umbrella and putting on dark sunglasses are definitely IN this summer irrespective of gender. For men who are office-goers it is imperative they wear pump shoes closed from all sides but students and those working in a less restrictive office environment, can easily try out cool foot wears with enough ventilation. For women, summer is a boon when they have every opportunity to lay bare their enviable collection of classy footwear.

It is crucial to have enough liquid intakes. 2-3 litres of water a day should be the bare minimum. Along with this, fruit juices and health drinks will keep the supply of necessary minerals adequate. Tea and coffee are strong diuretics so keep their intake to the lowest.

With food, it is wise to try out boiled vegetables and meat and fish cooked with little oil. However, it is not unlikely that you will slip out of this routine once in a while, especially at a wedding party or a friend’s birthday. What is important is to be sure that you keep well after everything. Since a hot summer day is the least suitable for working out, one can take up some exercises in the morning before taking shower. This little effort on your part is sure to keep you surprisingly fresh the whole day out.

Last but not the least, this summer whenever you have to take an important decision, personal or professional, make sure you do that with a cool head. Summer can never be better if you keep on doing the right things and saying the right words throughout!

Equipped with all these formula, one might end up enjoying a summer day and might agree with Emily Dickinson, the eccentric spinster of literature:

There came a Day at Summer’s full,
Entirely for me-
Enjoy this summer in style!

You’ve got that killer outfit, those perfect shoes, and just the right amount of make-up. As you’re brushing your hair, you notice strands of hair in the comb. Your hair. Poof! You’re down in the dumps. Indeed, nothing kills self-esteem the way hair trouble can. While this may sound like a petty problem, studies have linked hair and self-image to confidence and performance. Women who feel good about themselves and their hair can be attentive, focused and present in the here and now (Tolle 2001, 2002, 2003). Women who feel unhappy with their hair, suffer. Through internalized social comparisons and real experiences of criticism from peers, partners or parents, they feel small and inadequate, unhealthy and unwholesome.

There’s more to the whole hair than self-confidence and self-image though. Let’s look at some interesting connotations related to hair:

Hairstyles and image

* Hairstyles are a medium of expression. Teenagers may adopt hairstyles that provoke shock, puzzlement, or even disgust as a means of indicating rebellion.

* New hairstyles indicate change (McAlexander and Schouten, 1989) while familiar hairstyles symbolise personal continuity.

* Women of mousy-coloured hair often choose to dye it blonde to signify sexiness, fun and availability.

* Blondes are considered more glamorous than brunettes and redheads (Heckert, Heckert, and Heckert, 2003)

* When making recruitment decisions for professional positions, it is often brunettes that are preferred and awarded higher salaries over women of other hair colours because they are seen as more capable (Kylie and Mahler, 1996)

Hair as a symbol of sexuality

* In many cultures, hair length and quality are indicators of reproductive ability, and thus younger women are concerned with displaying good hair, wearing longer hair than older women.

* Nuns cut their hair short and cover their heads as a symbol of renunciation of sexuality.

* In India, women make a pilgrimage to Tirupathi in South India, where they then shave their heads as a symbol of gratitude for favours received from God, thus signifying willingness for a time to become asexual persons.

Hair and Opposites (Synnot)

* Opposite sexes tend to have opposite hair (men have short hair, while women have longer)

* Head hair and body hair are opposites (Women keep longer hair, but depilate body hair; men keep shorter hair, but bodily hair is a symbol of masculinity)

* Opposite ideologies have opposite hair (Professional hairstyles are medium length and neat, alternative hairstyles are either very short (i.e. Skinheads) or very long (i.e. Hippies) or variously coloured (i.e. Punk)

Hair Politics

* In the late 19th and 20th century women were required to have long uncut hair, which could be moulded into elaborate shapes as a symbol of the family’s wealth and status.

* Beginning in the 1850’s feminists called on women to dress with freedom and have simpler hair.

* In China and Japan, bobbed hair was seen as a symbol of female promiscuity and a sign of defiance of the domestic ideal, and was banned. The state took control over women’s hair, and short-haired women were publicly executed or heavily penalised (Sun, 1997)

Condensed and adapted from “Living in the hair and now” -Dr Nimmi Hutnik.