Riddle solved …

This is an old incidence and related back to my childhood school days. I am talking just about the year of 1970. I was born and reared in a hinterland village of my Himalayan foot hill district. From the standpoint of weather structure, here summer season was always pleasant. But the wintry season, on the contrary had always been so tormenting and still up to that extent it is. The wintry season, otherwise also seems lengthy and sever in a region, surrounded by distant snow capped peaks of Himalaya. At that time, climate comparatively too was sever. Reason being, thinner density of population and vast stretch of greenery.

Summer’s gambol in water canal and other discrepancies

The summer season for we children was like picnic days. We all children of the entire village kept busying in water sports in the village canal, that happened to streamed with abundant supply of running water.Our whole day gambol was to swim in the canal water, till we got exhausted. But, in winter  season, the severe cold felt so piercing that we all children hated to take a bath. We all daringly avoided that, by applying all means, I mean by hooks or by crooks. ,  Even, the occasional weekly bath, we manipulated to skip.

To skip the wintry season weekly bath had some reasons. That was an old time, all people lived a rustic life.The “concept of bathroom” had not been introduced in the village community. Women, used to take their bath in cowshed since it was a covered place and women needed some privacy. To defecate, the entire village used to visit open fields or behind the shrubs . There were no disparity in this regard between men and women. Rarely, there was any house that had the “latrine” facility.

                                          bath in open air

As I mentioned, snow capped distant located peaks relayed the cold waves, whole through the entire season. In winter season, mother used to get water boiled in an open air, makeshift hearth. This hearth, simply made of some boulders or bricks, given a temporary shape to get adjusted the water filled canister. We children of the house were under an obligation to supply fuel woods under the canister, so the fire in the hearth not put out. When water got fully boiled, by adding some fresh water into it, to make it moderate warm, we were asked to take a bath in open air.

Now, just imagine the situation, you are sitting naked on a wooden elevated chouki ( a little heighted stool type structure,) being assaulted from all around by the piercing cold waves. These cold waves also helped in dipping down the temperature of the boiled water simultaneously. This bathing adventure was like inviting a shivering fever for us. Till the tender age, mother used to make us bath forcefully, under her personal control and supervision, as if, we were a toddler. In fact, till the age of eight or nine years, we were  get washed and bathed by our mother. But after that age, it was expected from a boy child, to take a bath by himself.

                                      Humiliation in the school

No sooner, a boy grew to an attainable age, he at once began to skip the wintry bath. I was also one of them. To attend the distant located Junior High School was a ‘must’ routine for us. For that, all we children, as a preparation, used to wash out mouth and hands superficially, dressed up, loaded our school bag and reached there. Even our teachers too used to humiliate us on this issue of taking bath in winter season. On every alternate day, they happened to ask us in the class room, “how many of you take a regular bath?” We students too were cunning enough, almost the entire class happened to raise the hands in “YES.”

One of my classmates, friend and neighbor ever appeared in the class room, always looking neat and clean and well bathed apparently. On this issue of bathing, he ever scorned and humiliated us all daily.  He had a knack. He was in the habit to take an inspecting round of a boy and announce with a conviction, ” this boy has not taken a bath for last one month!” Not only this, after this revelation, he was in a habit to put his hand on his nose, as if, that boy was emitting some foul odor from his body.

It was always beyond our comprehension, how come and how ably, he could predict about our “Not taking a bath.” He was always correct about his this announcement with every child. He  by himself always appeared  with his well combed hair, applied properly with hair oil, as if, he took a daily bath. Truly say, it was his daily routine to insult some one of us on this point. He belonged to some what “well off” family, so he too came in school by sprinkling some “tel com powder” to perfume himself.

                                   cosmetics of the time

Here, some description of application of  telcom powder is needed for reader. That was an old time, when women in rural side, only on some wedding occasions or some festivity used to apply local manufactured cold cream on the face and upon that would sprinkle telcom powder to make it more whiter. At that time, the “vanity box” of a rural woman contained some cheap quality cold cream, telcom powder, cheap nail polish, a comb and a small piece of mirror to look in the face. These items were used on rare occasions of some marriage ceremonies etc. The use of lipstick was never in vogue. It was taken as a bad sign of “stray from the righteous path” for a woman.

Now back to the my arrogant classmate and friend. By his maintaining himself neat and clean boy, we all had an awesome respect for him, Simply, it was a daring venture to take daily bath in the wintry season in our eyes. In his absence, our discussion ever focused on the point, ” how come, he captures us that we had not taken a bath for long?”

                                                   elicitation

Well dear! One day, it occasioned, my mother delivered a stricture for me to take a wintry bath. This made me to escape from the home premise to save my skin. Now under such bad circumstances, one has to take a resort in the house of some friend. He was my nearest friend, whose house located about half a km from my residence. When I reached at his house, I found his mother stood on the main path of the house with a cane in her hand. He stationed away amid village fields at a distance about one furlong. She was calling out him intimidatingly, ” come back home and take a bath, otherwise I will take your skin off your body. You haven’t taken a single bath for last two months.”

This dialogue of his mother was enough to make me crest fallen. Just at yesterday, my this friend was bragging before us in the school, “Today I took my bath early in the morning, no sooner I left my bed!”  And here, his mother’s this elicitation was enough to flabbergast me. I resisted her, “Hey aunt! What you are saying?  On yesterday only, in school he was bragging, he took his bath early in the morning!”

His mother responded in a defeated tone, ” Of whom bath You are talking son? Daily, he just washes his entire head inclusive of mouth and hands only. For last two months, he has not taken a single bath. Simply, he applies the hair-oil on his wet hair and reaches school!” Then suddenly  aunt caught me by my ear. She twisted my ear first to this side and then to another side and inspected my ear and said woefully, ” it seems, You too have not taken bath for months. Look, how much layers of dirt been accumulated on the back side of your external ear and inside the helix.”

That was the only moment, when I found the secret of my friend, “how come he happened to announce about other students’ secret of not taking bath for long.” He knew, when some boy does not take a bath for long, layers of dirt accumulate inside helix and on the back of the external ears. Here, he adroitly washed his head and ears daily and appeared in school, as if,  bathed properly. Indubitably, he had learnt this secret from his mother, who used to inspect his ears  as sign of not taking a bath.

The reality was, he too by himself used to skip the weekly bath, like us. But cunningly, by washing his head and ears carefully and applying hair-oil used to fool us daily. People like him, in certitude were destined to hoist the flag of success in life. penned by — Vinay Pharasi …..