Editorial»
Measly talk
DEC 23 - Friday evening, I had it all me ticulously planned out. On Saturday, I was going to watch a movie with friends. On Sunday, our whole class was being taken to Khopasi on a sociological survey (a top secret picnic in reality). Then, we sisters would go on some shoe shopping on Tuesday. And Wednesday seemed to be the perfect day to finish reading The Hobbit.
Feeling immensely pleased with my faultless scheduling, I checked out my new whisker-striped eyelashes. That was when I noticed the first spot. It was a cute red one, right on my shoulder blade. I thought it was a hole bored by a leech, and was glad that it was nowhere to be seen now.
Then I saw that my right eye was swollen. And a spot was looming precisely on top of it. Shocked now, I observed my legs – and counted nine spots. My arms had six each, and I could not see my stomach underneath those horrid spots.
In our tenth standard, we had to read about this disease in our health, environment and population class – I forgot its name – where pinkish spots erupted on the patient’s body. Worried if I had caught anything like that, I rushed to my sister and asked if she had any idea what they were. Sure, she replied, she had a very good idea what they were – measles.
Oh, measles were simple. I was not bothered in the least. They didn’t disturb me, so they could remain if they wished to. With my parents out of the valley and with only the indulgent family members left at home, what could dare to disrupt my plans? Plenty, as it soon turned out.
First, the swollen eye began hurting – the measles inside threatened to burn it alive. Then I had a sore throat like I have never had before, so that swallowing even a sip of water became impossible. The fever made me all giddy and the measles themselves itched all over – my hands, neck, legs, even the scalp. The next morning, when I became so weak that I could not get out of the bed, I finally conceded defeat and called everybody concerned with my schemes.
The worst thing was, no one believed me. They all shared the same idea – that I had looked hale and hearty the previous evening. Yes, I replied, but measles don’t give any warning. They are supposed to appear abruptly. One friend hung up on me before I could say sorry. The next one said in a furious tone, “Well, I sure do hope you get well soon.” Another said I had ruined up her plan of wearing her new beige-blue trousers on our get-together. The fourth one guffawed and said “Measles, huh? How very interesting.”
A pity I don’t find anything the least interesting about them.
While at school, especially in double-math days, I used to invent these ridiculous explanations to give it a miss. I would complain of headaches and stomachaches and toothaches until everyone got sick and tired of hearing those lousy reasons. And the strange thing was, I never did become sick. No jaundice or typhoid, no influenza or pneumonia – not even plain fever. That was why the measles irritated me all the more. Why couldn’t they have appeared, say, on the eve of my science exam? Or even better, in our Sanskrit –poem recitation class? Why now of all times, when I had jam-packed my days with so much fun and excitement? I could not even watch TV, or read, or write. The only thing I could do was lie flat on my back, stare straight up and compare the cobwebs, occasionally giving away the “most horrid” prizes.
On Wednesday evening, I was just beginning to get used to my invalid state when a friend called. “Hi,” she said, obviously in great spirits “Feeling better now?”
“A bit,” I muttered, not quite so enthusiastically “Just a littler bit.”
“You really missed the excursion, you know,” she continued,” We had all your favorite foods –potato fry and bourbon and lemon puff and titaura...”
At the background, my mom was saying, “Here’s your rice porridge.”
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