After the doc had confirmed that it was chicken pox all hell broke loose. I was completely panic stricken. Waking up in the middle of the night to check on the ugly lesions which kept cropping up like the spring harvest. The temperature kept rising. With a diseased soul and body, I landed myself in Kolkata in search of that long lost home comfort. And then I heard the story.
Bengalis till date (not all of them of course, but I am guessing a handful of them) still believe or are convinced that chicken pox is actually the transmigration of Goddess Shitala into a human body! (WOW! Bongs can really take their imagination to another level altogether) Hence, you are not suppose to take any medicines or conform to any scientific or medical methods of cure. No bath for a week. No non-veg. If the itching gets too bad, no anti-allergen. No one can wear red in the family. All reds will have to be done away with (you are screwed if your are a Marxist). Your medicine will be a drop of the charana-amrit of the Goddess.Interestingly, a funnily dressed religious quack will come and will do funny things to you with his magic broom or feather or whatever the fuck it is or do some voodoo shit while you lie in bed, helpless. All in all it's a 21 day cycle where you just lie around decaying and watch your family acting like 15th century weirdos.
If you are not ready for this kind of discourse and have contracted chicken pox, do listen to the doc and take the medicines. And plz take a bath everyday.
