Summer love and other essentials for a holiday at home

Summer for most of India is liminal—it seems to lurk at the ends, or beginnings, of every season. There isn’t a time when we truly forget the heat, unlike northern Europe that sees the sun for a few brief months and still needs bonfires to enjoy it. The days are long, and the heat induces laziness, many complaints and a lot of suffering, but summertime is also about holidays if you’re in professions such as teaching and the law, or about filling time for children who have too much of it on their hands at home. We’ve put together a list of 30 essentials for the summer, whether you’re home all day or want to put your feet up after a day in the sun. Everything on our list has been curated by the team, and these are all sorts of general items that we’ve used, appreciated and enjoyed. It’s a miscellanea of discoveries from our own searches for ways to keep cool, alleviate boredom, relax, or just have some fun. We have a list of reruns that bring comfort in any season, AI tools calm you , books to read, and recipes to bring spice to boring summer veggies. From plant misters for your balcony to automatic refill water bowls for your pets, we’re sharing our summer love.

Goa in the company of dogs

There’s much made of summer romance in the west, but we tend to reserve that for the monsoon in India when the skies are mysterious, the rains comforting and the temperature soothing. Rohit Chawla’s new book Rain Dogs captures that seasonal romance and his love for stray animals, as Avantika Bhuyan writes. The pandemic five years ago was a time when many brought home streeties, taking in animals that were suddenly deprived of the human contact that sustained them. Chawla doesn’t touch upon this aspect, but his beautiful photos capture the spirit of that strange time and emphasizes this bond. 

Tommy Hilfiger, made in Mumbai

Tommy Hilfiger, the designer famous for his signature American preppy design aesthetic, was in India earlier this week for the launch of his eponymous brand’s new store in Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai--but it's by no means his first visit to the city. Hilfiger created his first collection in Mumbai, getting it tailored near Juhu Beach in 1971. He tells Dhara Vora Sabhnani about the continuing importance of India in his fashion and his personal style. 

Kaya toast and matcha lattes for summer breakfasts

If there’s one thing Indians love more than breakfast, it’s carbs. And Asian breakfasts with their warm dishes, steamed and lightly cooked dishes and carb-heavy cuisine are perfect for the Indian palate. Kaya toast, matcha brioche and kopi-o are finding lots of takers before 11am across cities in India as people are looking to linger over breakfast, especially on weekends. Ruth Dsouza Prabhu finds out what’s on diners plates every morning. 

How to spring clean your smartphone

Modern phones are digital apartments. Over time, clutter builds up—harmless but space-hogging. Despite devices boasting 128GB or more, most of us somehow run out of space—just when we need to record a video, install an update, or download that must-have app. Just like you declutter your home from time to time, your smartphone needs some tough love too. Fortunately, you don’t need to “move out” (delete apps) to get breathing room. Just open the digital windows, sweep the corners, and rethink what needs to be stored locally. With a bit of strategy, you can make your phone feel lighter and faster. Lounge provides a few housekeeping tips that protect your precious data while freeing up space on your device. 

Foresight as a routine eye checkup

Never before in human history have so many people spent so many hours staring at screens. Children attend digital classrooms; adults toggle between devices for work and leisure. With eye strain due to excessive screen use affecting younger people at unprecedented levels, eye health is an under recognized, frontiers of preventive medicine, Tanisha Saxena reports. Vision health is far more than a matter of eyesight; it can be an early warning system for chronic illness and a marker of neurological function. A thorough eye checkup can reveal early signs of hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular issues and Alzheimer's. 

Road testing two trending running shoes

Records in the running world have tumbled at a pace faster since carbon shoes debuted about eight years ago, and recreational runners of all abilities have bought into the idea that these shoes can also help them get faster and improve their timings. Most carbon shoes are designed for specific distances. Nike’s VaporFly range, for instance, is for distances up to half marathons while its AlphaFly range is for full marathons. Similarly, Adidas offers Takumi Sens for races up to 10km and its Adios Pro range for longer races. Ahead of three big marathons, Shrenik Avlani tried two trending pairs of shoes—Adidas’ Adizero Takumi Sen 10 while racing a 10km in Nike’s Alphafly 3—to find out how they deliver on the road. 

Google Pixel 9a: Performance meets design

The Google Pixel 9a does not get much wrong, starting with the minimalist design, calming colours and plush feel, writes Shouvik Das. This is the seventh version of the Pixel, and has a starting price of ₹49,999, more than 7% lower than its predecessor—perhaps an effect of Google assembling its Pixel phones in India. At this price, you get all of Google’s latest AI chops (including ‘Add me’ in the camera and ‘Magic editor’ in Google Photos), the same 6.3-inch OLED display as the Pixel 9, the latest generation ‘Tensor G4’ custom processor, and 256GB of fixed storage. The display offers the modern-day standard of 120Hz refresh rate—in simple terms, this means that your eyes will perceive it to be silky smooth.