The Tea Bag

The whole country is scared with a swine flu attack and everywhere I see people wearing masks, covering themselves from this epidemic. Also, my whatsapp keeps on sending me these forwards from well meaning friends telling me what to do and what not to do.

Last week, I started my evening school after a long winter break, and it was heartening to see the village children to turn up, back with their eager smiles ready to receive than expect anything. I started my class after exchanging pleasantries and knowing about what they had been up to over the winter. Well, class started and I noticed that all of them were wearing these different colored bows. I shrugged it off thinking, that maybe it was the new fashion in my pind (village).  They always follow some fashion and then they all ape it!

One of the young girls, came up to me in the midst of the lesson and at a closer distance realized it was a piece of string that suspiciously had a tea bag in the center wrapped colorfully.

I asked her what it was and she said her mother had made it; it contained a powdered mixture of camphor and small elaichi.  And, then pandemonium!

Every child, boy, girl, teachers, parents, grandparents and the cows, buffaloes were wearing this tabeez/ amulet to ward off swine flu.

Apparently, the village quack sorry Doctor in residence, had started this get rich quick scheme to play on everyone’s fears. The mix was available at all the village shops for Rs 30 for the small one and it went up to Rest 300 for the largest one that was bought for animals!

I burst out laughing. We, all are so susceptible to anyone who can give us a quick miss to illness and bad luck. Logic fails and the mind tricks us into believing in these wacky ideas. The boys wore it on their forearms, the girls in longer threads around their necks, the little ones on their wrists; and oh! The secret was to inhale it after every couple of hours.

The children also told me, that their teachers in government schools had little bowls in class with the powdered mixture to prevent themselves from swine flu.

Its interesting how the children even knew the statistics to how many people had been killed by swine flu and how it was going to kill more. Ask them about their subjects or any other fact , I always get the silent treatment .

I wondered whether the cardamons used were original or just dirt . My simpletons were being taken for a ride and Dr. Sonu was making good money ! Any fever, runny nose , cough is  being treated as most critical  with utmost care  here. The village folk are simple people who still have the streak of innocence that is missing in us jaded lot.

Ps: Never a dull moment here; today at 3 am , the entire village was out in the streets as an earthquake was coming.  Everyone was out in the streets ; and that is a story for another day.