Salt and Water

Salt seems to be my favorite topic this week. After writing about salt and love, I am now switching to the topic of salt and water - in other words, saline drops.

salt + water = saline

These drops have been our saviors from the dreaded ear infections, mostly affecting young kids in the U.S who attend day care. It is not limited to kids who attend day care or to kids alone. Anyone can get it. But the probability of a young kid, attending a day care, catching a cold that leads to an ear infection is very high.

A few weeks before she turned 1, our daughter started attending day care. It didn't take long for the ear infection to follow. It was tough to see her go through the pain and antibiotics. When we called up my father, a general practitioner in India, he kept repeating we should use saline drops as soon as she catches a cold. Keeping the nasal passages non-stuffy would prevent most infections. That sounded simple as well as safe. After all, it was non-medicated. The tough part was getting her to stay still to spray her nose with the drops. She cried and resisted which made us not follow through.

Couple of months later, she had another ear infection. After that, we knew we had to give this advice a serious try. Eventually, she realized these drops were helping her and the resistance and crying decreased. She would even sit through when we used the suction tube, that was provided by the hospital to babies, for clearing out any mucus. Since then, she did bring home the usual series of cold, cough and other health problems, but thankfully did not get another ear infection.

When our son was born, we were equipped with this information. Though he was quite strong-willed and stubborn, he quickly got the idea that these saline drops helped him and did not show any resistance. We even sent it to the day care when he had cold or cough. He used to surprise his day care teachers by sitting quietly when they use it there.

Looking back, I can say this simple concoction of salt and water worked like a charm. I am not trying to say it can prevent all ear infections. However, this simple remedy helped us a lot. Now, be aware that I am not a medical person. So, I suggest you take this (post about salt) with a grain of salt!

Salt and Love

Have any of you heard this Indian folk tale about salt ? Here is the version that my parents used to narrate when I was a kid and now continue to narrate to our kids.

Once upon a time, there lived a king with three daughters. He wanted to find out how much his daughters loved him. One day, he called each of them and asked "How much do you love me?". The first two daughters, who were mean and cunning, told him they loved him as much as sugar and sweet jaggery. The third daughter, who really adored her father, told him she loved him as much as salt. The first two answers made the king happy but he was very disappointed with the third answer. He banished the third daughter from his kingdom. She walked through a forest, met a kind wood-cutter, married him and they lived happily in a small cottage. Years later, the first two daughters managed to seize the throne and banished their father. The king walked through the same forest and met the same wood-cutter, who was very kind to the hungry and tired person he came across. He invited him home. Through the kitchen window, the third daughter, now the wood-cutter's wife, saw her father arrive at the cottage. She quickly went ahead to prepare a big meal. As they sat down to eat,  the king found everything tasteless. At that time, the third daughter came forward with a can of salt. She had not put salt in any of the dishes. The king quickly realized his mistake. It is not in sweet words that love exists but in kind actions. The king stayed with the third daughter and they lived happily ever after in the small cottage. 

Love = Sugar, Jaggery or Salt ?

I am not sure why, but I simply loved to hear this story over and over again. I think it was because it validated my dislike of people who sweet-talk. As far back as I can remember, I never liked people who act nice just to create a great impression. It was quite easy to sense people who wanted to be nice for the sake of being nice from those who genuinely cared. This story had a great message about kindness being the measure of true love. The fact that the youngest daughter, was living a happy life, even when she did not have any luxuries, was also a good lesson.

Couple of years ago, when my daughter was in first grade, she came home excited, telling me the teacher had read her grandmother's story of salt in class. It was interesting to know there was an English book with this story. My immediate reaction was to search for it online. When I could not find any books, I asked the teacher about the story, and she showed me a laminated reading sheet they use in class. She had a huge collection of reading sheets with wonderful folk tales from around the world.

There is nothing better than a folk tale to convey simple life lessons so beautifully. Do you agree? At least, I hope you do not take this (post about salt) with a grain of salt.