Of falling sick and purging

As a kid , I fell sick pretty often. According to my mom, it was because of some wrong vaccination shots I got which totally shot up my immune system for a couple of years. But this post has nothing to do with that.



Am down with a cold, a terrible cough and a fever to boot. So while in my bed weaving in and out of conciousness, I suddenly remebered what happened if you fell sick at home as a kid. Now my parents are great believers in home remedies and medicines were used only as the last resort. While these remedies were extremely effective and had no side effects and probably contributed to the fact that I hardly fall sick , they took their experimentation to a whole new level.

The thing that I remember the most is my dad's theory that everything arose from a "dirty" stomach. Till date, I have no clue what that means. My dad's way of monitoring my (and my sis's) health was to have us stick our tongue out, look at it and go..."Chee Chee Chee... thats dirty!!!" and then utter the dreaded word "Julaab". Julaab is the hindi/punjabi word for the entire Purgative family of products. Apparently having dark spots on the tongue (that I have had all my life and have had a doctor tell me a couple of years ago is just pigmentation marks) is a sign of having a "dirty" stomach and the only way to fix that was making sure that the toilet was the room I spent most of my day in . This diagnosis was for EVERYTHING. Cough, Cold, Fever, Stomach Aches, Acne, Rashes, Allergies...did I say everything???



However, as I have already mentioned, it had to be a home remedy and those things have scarred me for life. If it was a small pill, I probably would'nt have had these memories but no!!.... the stuff forced down my throat were the vilest of concoctions ever devised.



The chief amongst these was the infusion of Senna (Sona Patta in Hindi). The leaves are these pretty golden color but thats the only thing positive about it . The leaves were soaked over night (on Thursdays) and then it was boiled to produce this dark brown brew which smelt like the pits of hell itself and tasted like god only knows what. I cannot describe the taste.... there are no words to describe such a thing . A cup of this infusion was forced down my throat on Friday night and I spent Saturday with my stomach rumbling and twisting and all the things associated with a laxative.

Incase you were under the impression that this was something that happened only when I was sick, it was not. It was given to me weekly as long as I was home. Infact after I left for boarding school, the dosing continued the moment I got home for my holidays.

To all parents out there... Purgatives and Laxatives are NOT the cure for any sickness.... take it from a guy who knew each damp spot in the toilet intimately!!!!