The great gasping

Once a season of cosy sweaters, winter now brings toxic smog. But a few tweaks around home can help you breathe easier

- SEEMA GOSWAMI

In more innocent times, the arrival of winter – signaled by that early-morning or late-night nip in the air – was something to be celebrated. In my childhood home, it meant that the razais, sweaters, coats, etc that had been packed away with mothballs would be disinterred ceremonially and laid out in the afternoon sunshine to get an ‘airing’. My favourite activity as a child used to be to roll around on my mother’s velvet jackets to enjoy the luxurious feel of the fabric.