Wading Memories

Sowmia had often visited her native town. Every year during annual holidays, the family stayed at the ancestral home and they spent a gala time with all the close relatives who come there to spend their holidays. She was familiar with the place, yet she always wanted to come back home soon.When she was a child, she remembered walking to the river every day and enjoyed taking a bath. When her aunts washed the clothes and took a bath in the place meant for the women, Sowmia and other children sat on the rocks at the side of the bank of the river. They took bath in the shallow water and never tried to walk or move ahead in the running stream of water. 

Having lived in a place that reeled under a very high demand for water, the river with plenty of clear water looked as a welcome change. The women in the household went to take bath and wash their clothes in the river on alternative days. 

Sowmia loved those days and enjoyed taking bath in the running water. Though it was hot, the water in the river was cold. He remembered the days when she was so scared about the little fish in the water that swam to her feet and started to nibble on her toes and fingers on her feet. It sent a tickling sensation across the body. Initially, it scared her a lot, and she was first hesitant to put her legs into the water.

One day one of her aunts told her that the fish would bite away the dead skin cells and it would help her to maintain healthy skin. From that day onward, she did not feel bored to sit at least for thirty minutes and let the fish bite on her worn-out old skin on the feet.  The fish would bite away all the old skin that made her feet look polished and neat.

Now Sowmia is grown, but still she wanted to go and have a dip in the river. One day when her mother decided to go to the river along with her sisters, Sowmia decided to join them. She did not want to take bath in the river water after she looked at the women taking bath in the river. All the women who were wearing sarees took away their sarees and kept them aside. Then they untied their full skirts worn under the saree and pulled them upwards and tied them under their arms. Then they tactfully removed their blouses and started to take bath in the thin stream of water that flowed in the river.

The women looked sexier with their bath attire. The shoulders were completely exposed and they wore only the long skirts that hid them from the shoulder to the knees. With this attire, they sat on the bank of the river and washed their clothes first. They rinsed the washed clothes well and kept them inside the empty buckets.

Then they waded through the water and had their bath. They did not show any sense of shame and they swam across the river with a cool attitude. Unmindful of everything around them, they took bath under the open sky, made Sowmia wonder about their guts to do like that. These women if they were asked to wear swimsuits and take bath in the river, may object to that. But these long skirts made them look sexier than swimsuits. 

Usually, these women wear their underskirts which are made with a thick cotton cloth and so it protected them nicely. When her aunts asked her to take bath in the river, she refused to remove her dress. Sowmia always wore chudidar at home and she told them that she will take bath only along with that dress. She told them that she don't mind taking a dip in the river and will have her usual bath once she returned home.

Everyone laughed at her and the way she took bath in the river. As Sowmia felt so delicate to wear like the other women in the town, she sat on the banks with her legs into the water. She allowed the fish to bite the dead skin cells on her feet and enjoyed the tickling sensation that made her giggle now and then. 

After her dip in the river, Sowmia sat on the rocks to dry her clothes. Though she shivered after her bath in the cold water, the morning sun rays helped her to dry her clothes within thirty minutes. She sat on the rock watching the other women washing and taking bath in the river.

The stream of water looked clear and white. It was a treat to watch the fish moving under the water. The river water brought along with it bits of plants also. The water brought along with it flowers of different kinds that were found on the banks of the river. Sometimes little sparrows and other birds came to the river to drink water.

Sowmia sat watching like this till her mother and her aunts completed their washing and bathing in the river. When one of her aunts lifted the bucket, a towel fell into the water and the flowing stream carried it along.

As it passed near Sowmia, her aunt asked her to pick it up from the water. Sowmia bent down to pick the towel. But she lost her balance and fell into the water. Holding the towel in her right hand, she fell into the water. As it happened so suddenly, Sowmia could not balance herself on her feet and stand up inside the water. Though the water was shallow, she could not keep her feet strong inside the river. She tried two times to get up from the water but did not succeed. She dripped and fell into the water again.

A strong hand pulled her by her hair from the water. It dragged her aside and pushed her on the nearby rocks. Once again Sowmia got drenched in the river water. Initially, she could not tell what happened. Her aunt helped her to relax by giving some water to drink. 

"What happened?" Everyone surrounded her and kept on asking her. Her mother was shocked to see her underwater, as Sowmia had escaped an accident only a few months ago. She told her to stay at home and not try to go anywhere. Sowmia could not tell 'No' to her as she had not come out of the shock of drowning in the water.

"Sowmia, you need to be careful." Sowmia looked at the male who spoke to her. He was a friend of her uncle and he happened to see her while he was walking down the bank of the river to reach the place where men took bath. Though he knew men are not allowed in the place where the women took their bath, he acted fast and saved her from another meeting with death.

When they all reached home, Sowmia got the best treatment that she got forever in her life. Everyone treated her like a Princess and took care of her. Her younger aunt helped her to change her drenched dress and dried her hair with a dry towel. Even unknown people were helping her. Someone ran to the kitchen to bring a cup of coffee so that she would feel warm. Her grandmother after hearing about all these things started to scold her mother.

"I told you not to take her along with you. Only a few months back she met with an accident and took so long for her to be normal. Now, this has happened. For sometime don't take her anywhere." Sowmia was her favorite granddaughter and the incident brought her tears. 

Sowmia's father hearing about the incident started to get worry about her health once again. He also told her to return home immediately, so that she will be under his care and she needed strict vigilance to keep her in good health. Sowmia could not talk a word to anyone of them. She kept quiet and became a silent listener to people all around her.