Have you tried my remedy yet?

By Vageesha Mishra

Once my cousin was down with a throat infection and a nagging cold. While she was pouring out an ocean into a poor piece of cloth, that probably had bigger aspirations, a gathering of middle aged aunties decided to drop in announced.

A chaos broke out after their eyes landed upon a coughing young girl, curled up in a blanket on a hot day. It was enough to bring a house down.

With gaping mouths and bulging eyes, fit the frighten anyone however strong, they started.

“Oh you have cold? Why don’t you try some turmeric in milk?,” throws one shooting up an eyebrow so they take cognizance of her words.

“No, no. Have some basil tea. By morning, you’ll have a clear nose,” cuts another.

“Just basil? It won’t be enough. We also add some ginger and black pepper to the brewing mix. Boosts inner heat,” says the third, vigorously shaking her head.

By the time strands of her hair sprang free of their tie, silently screaming for a new colouring brand, the one who had been quiet all along giving semi judging stares, jumped in. “Go take a cold bath, dear, it will all go away.”

Are you serious? All this person wants to do is sleep it off and hope for the best after popping different pills suggested by the doc. And even if they try to tread in the direction of self care, how does switching between numerous remedies, topping with a cold water blast prove any helpful?

Oh yes, when in India, you cannot escape being sick without the bombardment of unasked contrasting remedies to kill off those viruses who themselves go groaning inside, saying “ugh, not again. This isn’t age old remedy, you had read this on social media while wishing ‘good morning’ to Mrs Chawla! We owe it to your kid for the change of scenery. Glad she never washes off her hands before greeting people, haha!”

And behold, a warning always tags along a remedy, alluding to ways in which the patient could head for heaven if the disease however minor gets out of hand. To add to the their woes, they would take turns to recount horror episodes of similar incidents, taking the poor chap to the edge of a breakdown.

Plenty of them work just fine, having been passed on generation after generation and I am thoroughly guilty of sharing on a few effective kind. But these have stood tall in their general popularity over the years and “tested and tried,” by all means, several times by myself.

There a some however, that would leave one in splits.

A relentless, persistent backache troubled me last year. Someone told me to get the region kicked by a kid who qualified for the act. The pain had rendered me desperate. Medicines, precautions covered it only partially. Resting needed time which I didn’t have.

I vividly remember turning my back to him with my aunt taking his little foot in one hand and lightly going for my back.

My giggles were accompanied by his but soon enough a lingering concern creeped at the back of my head, fearing if the kid would randomly start kicking me whenever he fancied on being vastly encouraged once. Thankfully, he didn’t!

The pain took its sweet time to leave but if you ask me, I can’t a put a finger on what actually clicked!

The episode did give me a laugh. I have been closely observing ever since the mannerism of delivering a care wrapped advice and I give full marks for drama and special effects!

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By twinklingwords

Picture – Pixabay

Share your stories, my lovely friends if this has happened to you too!