The scare brought upon by the coronavirus in recent weeks took me on a trip down memory lane when a milder virus came knocking on our doors. In the 1960s, chickenpox wreaked havoc. The blister-like rash would first appear on the face and trunk and then spread throughout the body. The itching prompted one to flaunt loose clothing and its appearance in summer only made life miserable. The virus would strike like a bolt from the blue, and very soon, the entire family would be in its grasp.
Tips included avoiding scratching the body and confining oneself to eating food without oil. Even bathing was forbidden, and the family elders believed that only home remedies could cure the patient. They were also under the notion that chickenpox was a curse brought upon by Muthumariamman, the goddess of the locality, and the disease could be cured by her alone.
The affected child was made to skip classes and was ‘home quarantined’. Though being quarantined held no terrors, the word did not exist in our lexicon back then. It was considered a taboo to cook and consume non-vegetarian food during this period as many believed that it would offend the deity. A bunch of neem leaves were hung on the main door of the house signifying that a person afflicted with chickenpox resided here. The abode was ‘sanitised’ with cow’s urine, housed in a brass container decked with mango leaves, and visitors kept a safe distance from the affected family members.
I distinctly remember how an elderly lady pujari from the Amman temple behind our residence would call on us when news reached her about the illness. Armed with holy water and a bunch of sacred neem leaves that lay near the idol’s feet, the lady would rush home to sprinkle the holy water on the victims and wave the neem bunch in front of our face to drive the virus away.
Whether this ploy worked or not is a matter of conjecture! The chariot festival, which was an annual feature, would witness the goddess ferried around the locality in her ‘car’ for the devotees to pay homage and seek her blessings. On the seventh day, when the effect of the virus wore off, the patient was given a traditional bath of hot water mixed with neem leaves after dabbing turmeric paste all over the body. Though highly contagious, it was no novel coronavirus—which has sent many of the afflicted into ICUs and overwhelmed the heathcare system in a number of countries.
N J Ravi Chander Email: ravichander244@gmail.com