92. Blue with a tinge of yellow

With mercury touching a searing high, swimming pools are back in business. Who would not love to be in blue waters at this time? Barring early afternoons, cooling off in the pool anytime during the day is a bliss, be it in fancy star hotels or pocket-friendly neighborhood pools. But swimmers often wonder if swimming in other people’s pee in the pool is worth the risk. Curiously, no one has ever claimed not to have emptied one's bladder in a pool. After all, when you gotta go, you gotta go! 

The best option is to feign ignorance, counting it as a hidden price for a big comfort. After all, pee is over 95 percent water, and the remainder gets diluted to have any serious effect. Celebrated writer Khushwant Singh found pee silent in swimming pools (as p in psychology) where its diluted presence is silently ensured. A 2012 study published in the International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education had reported that about 19 per cent of people admitted to having peed in a pool. Clearly, an underestimation but good for us.   

To pee or not to pee in a pool is subjective, only the bladder can take the final call. Pee may not be as bad as we might think, however. A British naturopath John W. Armstrong had cured himself by treating 'on nothing but urine and tap water' for 45 days. In urine, he had discovered a system of alternate medicine that his family had long been practicing for treating minor stings and cuts, and which even the Bible prescribed: 'drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well'. 

In his hugely popular book 'The Water of Life', published in 1944, Armstrong had literally advised his readers not to be pissed off, but instead cajoled them tu pee aur jee - drink and live longer. It gained credence with politicians and celebrities, as much with ordinary souls. While former Indian Prime Minister Morarji Desai added a political tinge to his own perfect medicine, the British actress Sarah Miles immunized herself against allergies for being on her own urine dose for over thirty years.

Having tasted thine own waters, Desai even went to the extent of suggesting pee to be the perfect medical solution for the millions of countrymen who could not afford medical treatment. Not without reason as Shivambu Kalpa, a treatise on the pharmaceutical value of urine, propounds it as an acceptable practice across several societies. Ancient Chinese documents describe benefits of drinking one’s own urine, and people in Africa and the Americas have long used urine for various medical conditions.    

Its medicinal value withstanding, the creative aspect of pee has been explored in Bollywood blockbuster '3 Idiots' where pee only helps to hydrate the screenplay. The very idea of innovation in the script is pitched around this universal saline excretion, which is a good conductor of electricity. Pee is so creatively woven into the script that for once the Hindi-challenged character of Chatur Ramalingam's struggle to find a place for mutra visarjan (urination) through the 180-minute entertainer lands him in real trouble. 

All considered, I have renewed my swimming pool membership.

First published in Outlook on May 26, 2024 

91. Hugging, the virtuous virtue

Neither a celebrity nor one of its kind, the response was unexpectedly unprecedented. Each of the 70-odd teenage school students, both girls and boys, waited for their turn to give me a warm hug. Unbelievable as it was, all I could afford were moist eyes.  

My spontaneous temperament got the better of me when a friend surprised me by stopping by at a government aided school to converse with students during my recent travel in picturesque north Karnataka. Liberty to speak on whatever topic suited me gave freedom to avoid being formally introduced, as neither half-a-dozen teachers nor seventy-odd teens were profiled. All eyes were glued on me without anybody being clear on what to expect from an uninvited outsider.

During such times when children are exposed to hatred and hostility, the idea of an engrossing but entertaining conversation was paramount in my mind. Pointing at the boys first, I raised the most unexpected query 'when was the last time you hugged your father?' Bewildered! Nobody raised a hand but quite a few confirmed hugging their mothers. The girls were found to be few numbers better in hugging their mothers. Fathers do not know what they might be missing!  

Despite initial hesitation, the conversation evoked interesting insights. A teenager reported that he hugs his parents when they are in distress. What difference does it make? After a brief pause, he considered it to cause a soothing effect. Hugging has been found to be therapeutic, reducing stress and pain. Research has further shown that hugging releases feel-good hormones such as dopamine and serotonin, generating feelings of happiness by overcoming fear.

By this time teachers too had joined the conversation, suggesting that hugging can have a positive impact on mental and physical well-being. If you’re feeling down or stressed, consider reaching out to a loved one for a hug to feel better! Should hugging be a normal practice at home, parents can free themselves from forcing restrictions and stricter surveillance on their children. Everybody agreed that hugging could be a no-cost effort to promote harmony and boost creativity. 

The headmaster offered his appreciation for an engaging discussion on a subject that neither occurred to any of them as a problem nor was considered a solution to many life challenges. The teens were to stun me and their teachers no less, as each one came forward to give me a warm hug. The gesture was overwhelming and moving, with the teachers' mute witness to the prodigious moment. I could only suggest that the idea of voluntary hugging be encouraged. 

Schools all over promote e-learning in a dedicated digital lab. Technology is meant to take things forward and compete in the world of immense possibilities. Having gone through the unbelievable impromptu hugging experiment, for me e-learning should mean emotional-learning, as that is the only missing tag in our life. And children are indeed ready for it. It seems a glimmer of hope in a society that is increasingly being polarized.   

First published in Deccan Herald on May 25, 2024