The Hindu had a fascinating report on Wednesday morning entitled ‘Fever did not deter this warrior’. In the report, a brave investigating special correspondent of The Hindu informed the nation that a team of doctors "from Wenlock Hospital, led by Taluk Health Officer M.R. Subrahmanya, carried out a health check” on BJP President Amit Shah, who, as the report says, had high fever on Monday. A similar health check was undertaken on Tuesday morning as well, before Shah proceeded on his tour. The intrepid special correspondent of The Hindu lauded the BJP chief for continuing on his tour “as scheduled” despite running a temperature of 102 degrees Fahrenheit. The correspondent also listed all that Shah had consumed on Monday night after arriving in Karnataka, and all that he ate on Tuesday morning. This included idli, rice, sambar, upma and kesari bath, followed by some fruit and black coffee.

The report’s title on The Hindu website was subsequently changed on Wednesday itself to ‘Amit Shah campaigns with a fever’, along with the following explanation: “The original headline was inappropriate and had the tone of a comment. It has been changed.”

The pathbreaking article got us all talking about what we do when we have fever. A quick survey of our editorial team uncovered that we typically take khichdi, biscuits, juice, fruit, coconut water or daal water when ill. We also usually visit a doctor if high fever persists, but only one doctor. Our colleagues in Karnataka told us they typically eat kanji, or rice gruel, when suffering high fever, because it’s nutritious and easy to have as during high fever, they said their appetite is usually quite low. We have resolved to also try kanji next time we are unwell.