Talcum Powder!

I read this article in a leading fortnightly magazine about how some things are going to disappear from our lives.Some of the things they had listed were Talcum powder, Alarm Clocks, Single-blade razors and so on. This list sends me on a sweet trip of heart-warming memories.

When I was very young, my elder sister would sometimes get into a mothering mode. She would bathe me till I was squeaky clean and then liberally powdered me with lots of talcum powder. Later on she would make me a yummy snack and allow me to play with her prized possessions; her books, comics and her trinkets. Wow! that was a real treat considering that she rarely allowed anyone to touch her stuff. So there I was,sitting on the bed, covered with white powder and blissfully playing  like an angel. Sight for sore eyes!

Being the youngest member in the family, I was used to a lot of molly coddling. I was quite a pampered brat actually.

On Sundays my mother usually took a leisurely bath and wore her soft cotton mekhela chadar and applied some nice smelling talcum powder. I would stick by her side whole day and breathe into her lovely fragrance. In the afternoon siesta time, I would lie next to her and put my head on her bare stomach, listen to her soft breathing and ask her if I had once actually lived inside her? Was I the better daughter would be my next question? She would always reply that being her last born child I was indeed the special one. That would make me feel very content and serene. Even today the sweet fragrance of lavender or sandal wood makes me feel fresh, snug and very happy, always reminding me of those times when my world was a small and carefree place!

 Then I became a mother myself. Bath-time was fun time! The shampoo foam and body gel was shaped into weird hairdos for my frisky little one.Long hours were spend playing and splashing around in the bathroom. All her toys got a bath too and were scrubbed clean! Then wrapped snugly on a towel I would carry her to her bed where she would run around in circles deliriously happy!Her favorite game was ghost-ghost!She would apply all the powder on her face and try to scare us by being a “bhoot”!

When things disappear from our lives, like some things do, don’t we all long for them to come back? Those days of my childhood and those of my daughter’s are long gone. There are only memories now. Sweet and full of emotions. Memories they come at unexpected moments and catch you unawares. Like the whiff of a smell or the sight of something familiar.Then you are awestruck at how time has flown. Wasn't it just yesterday that it was all a part of your life?Now all you have are some photographs and some memories? Just like talcum powder, in the end only sweet fragrance remains of those bygone days.