KOCHI: Potted plants on the window sill droop. You pour a mug of water over it, smoother a layer of sunscreen onto your face, unfold your umbrella and step into the scorching sun, but what about your eyes? The heat and the dust burns your eyes, leaving it dry and itchy. In Kochi, even though shades are growing popular this summer, it is still more of a style statement than a protection measure! Hoardings planted all around the city announce the buy one, get one free sunglass mela on offer by Lawrence and Mayo. Approach their shop at Palarivattom to know more about it and you will see flashy smiles and beaming faces greeting you. “We have exceeded our target! We sold 189 sunglasses so far, this month,” says Sanal, the Marketing manager of the showroom. “Most youngsters walk in for trendy options. People still come looking for Rayban, and some settle for Polaroid which is more affordable,” he says when asked about his customers and their choices.Walk out of the shop. The sun still shows no mercy. A group of giggling youngsters beneath the bus stop, pass comments and pull the leg of their fourth friend, who is walking towards the bus stop, sporting a weird looking flashy sunglass. Which brings us to the question, are the cheap shades irrespective of their style, harmful for your eyes?“They aren’t harmful as such but cheap shades don’t fulfill the promise of the UV protection. But if you are to chose between no shades and cheap ones, get the cheap ones. With this heat and dust it will only do your eyes good,” replies Shane Mathew, an eye doctor at the Vasan Eye Care Hospital, as he wipes his pair of tinted spectacles.But when you decide to buy a pair of shades one thing you should keep in mind is the shade of the tint, unless you want to stumble upon stones, stick your shoe in the black garbage bags embroidered on the footpath or worse drown in the unattended manholes, chose an appropriate shade! Like, a walk on the beach would require a dark shade while a long drive, basked in the evening light, would demand a subtler tone. Sunglasses size should also be in proportion with the face size. A little bit of research will help you find the right one for your face. People with chubby round faces, should go for rectangular frames and glasses with brow bars where as those with oblong face should go for round frames, especially the ones short horizontal and long vertical lines.Despite all these options if you aren’t still keen on shopping for sunglasses, here are a few things to keep your eyes safe. Wash your eyes atleast three to four times in a day and make sure to blink your eyes often, these will help lubricate the eyes. Cucumber slices and refrigerated tea bags after a stressful day will cool your eyes.Dr Shane Mathew highly recommends artificial tears! Well, if you aren’t a cry baby, make sure to get a bottle of artificial tears, (available in medical shops without any prescription). Three four drops in a day will soothe your eyes and cleanse all the dust particles.
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