Thatched House

My name is Razuhii* and I know exactly where the sun rises. The sky turns yellow over the mountain, and then the sun appears in between the guava tree and the thatch house. Wait for minute. Now, it is in front of the house. It is time to go home. I washed my face, filled my pots and went home. As the water in the kettle started to rumble, I have finished cleaning the rice. I replaced the kettle from the fire place with the rice pot and added some firewood. With a cup of strong tea, I went round my house, strolling leisurely as I made a list in my mind of what I'll do today. Hmmm... I'll check the water channel to the paddy field, dig some fish holes and weave a new net at the water outlet. On my way back, I must remember to collect mushrooms for dinner. I fed my chicken and prepared my meal. After my early lunch, I packed my tiffin and whistling my favorite tunes I walked down to the paddy field which is on the bank of the Thikhapii River. In its lower course, the river is ca...

‘It’s just the Cold’, we say. We know we will up and about in a week. It goes away without any medicine. Most of the times, we don’t go to see a doctor but send someone to a pharmacy to buy some Cold ta blets. Some famous brands of these over-the-counter drugs are Sinarest, D-Cold, SumoCold, and NamCold. Some go for Crocin, Diclowin Plus, Diclomax, Sumo etc which are more specific for pain and fever; cough formulas like Grillinctus, Ascoril, Hatric3 are also used. The combinations and brands are numerous that no doctor can have all the names in one’s brain. If it is just Cold and fever, doctors usually don’t prescribe antibiotics but they are consumed widely and indiscriminately with/without prescriptions. Common Cold does not catch our attention like HIV/AIDS and Cancers. However, let us do some math here which may garner some awareness for this common condition. For calculation, I went to a pharmacy and noted the price of the common brands that are used in Nagaland. Th...