During August it rains cats and dogs in Bangalore. Morning, evening and through the night one can hear the pitter patter of the rain. Heavy clouds bloated with water hide the sun that peeks out only during afternoons.

Sometimes it gets a bit too much when it rains. How many cozy teas can one drink along with deep fried pakoras? The overcast sky starts playing on one’s nerves and many a times one begins to feel kind of blue for no reason. We tend to peek out of curtains and sigh.

Roads get slushy and when the downpour has gone on for long enough, one may see cars stranded in knee-deep water instead of paper boats. There are quite a few areas that one should avoid when it pours in Bangalore. The airport road for one that links to Koromangala is known to suffer from water-logging, HSR Layout has its own woes and don’t even get me started on the unhygienic conditions Russell Market suffers from.

Slushy roads, dead chickens floating outside the market, the smell of meat, fish and just plain unhygienic conditions where germs party makes Russell Market the food poisoning paradise of India's Silicon Valley.

Another place to avoid buying one’s veggies during the heavy rainy reason is the Madiwala vegetable market. Sure, you may say that one can wash the dirt off the veggies which one picks up from that farmer’s market but come on, you are picking vegetables and fruits from the mother of all cesspools of bacteria.

It’s best to buy one’s groceries from clean grocery stores during the rainy season. One should not be penny wise and pound foolish.

One should also avoid buying sea food from road side sellers and that again includes Russell Market. After cleaning the fish or deveining the shrimp they either wipe their hands against a dirty little rag or against the stall pillars (shudder).

One of the best places to pick up sea food and poultry during the rainy season is at the Spencers Store on M.G. Road. The meat and sea food is kept on ice packs and the stuff is always fresh.

As far as going out is concerned during this time, I tend to believe what my mom said – avoid eating out during rainy seasons but if one can’t avoid it then its best to go to the tried and tested places that are known for their clean kitchen and good food. One should stay away from road side eateries and especially from chat houses were its easy to give in to stuff like pani puri or dahi puri.

There are many precautions that one should take though the weather may seem romantic and cool. Bikers should not try to act like Nicholas Cage on wheels and weave through traffic. The chances of skidding and colliding with traffic are far more than on a regular day and yet we see a lot ‘heroes’ playing with their lives on the slushy roads.

One needs to be careful during this season. Keep yourselves warm, snuggle down with some hot tea or coffee and always remember not to take chances on the road or with your palate.