From the old book of wisdom

 These are the precious gleanings from old granny’s book of wisdom. Shining like golden letters on the placidly plastered dull surface of sweet-sour simplicity and teasing uncertainties of village life. They are not pricey things. They are age old but still wonderfully carry compellingly contemporary relevance. I sometimes use them and they come like reloaded revolutions against little nagging problems confronting we the common people. These are not the elements of super-reality. These are little faded diamond, emerald, onyx and jade of mother earth lying very close to the ground reality.

Put dry chili on clothes. It keeps away bugs. But be careful when you wear the clothes. The bug-guarding chili agents may take you as a bigger bug and strike where you are most vulnerable, eyes.

They say an onion under one’s armpit gets you fever. Students, during the punitive old schooling days, would look forward to it. I tried it a few times but failed to induce a fever. I carried bad smell in armpits though.

One can use turmeric as an antiseptic on one’s bruise. Maybe the bruise is deeper than mere skin. It will ease festering on the skin and that maybe will save the bruise from taking deep roots and get embedded in the bedrock of our ego.

Massage desi ghee or oil in your belly button, navel, to get well-hydrated, moisturized lips. The navel is a major junction of nerves. It was the door to our nourishment in mother’s womb. In spiritual practices it’s a key spot. So making it feel better with a gentle massage definitely spreads the strand of wellbeing across our self.

Some fruits that have met expiry dates in your estimation can be used as agarbatti stands. Who knows some of the lower gods, that’s the guardian angels, might take them as fruit offerings. Maybe they aren’t bothered about expiry dates because they operate in a dimension free of space and time differentials.

Cloves stuck in lemon slices repel mosquitoes. The mosquitoes cast almost an evil eye on our peace so lemon slices scare away the slick movements of bad luck aiming us through the dirty snout of a mosquito.

Use coconut husk for washing and scrubbing utensils. They are hard spongy fibers and come down heavily on the oily smudge on the kitchenware.

Toothpaste can be used for light burns and pimples. Why should the gums and teeth have all the fun? The pimples have their unclean teeth also. Toothpaste is handy for that. And when applied on the burn the coolness cleanses a lot of pain.

Rice water can be used to starch clothes. With starched white clothes you can have a feel of empowerment like powerful politicians do. You carry the smell of paddy with you and become a son of the soil. With the ‘son of the soil’ tag one can easily become a father of many destinies.

Squeeze orange peel into the eyes. I think it serves as a nice eye cleanser, especially those who don’t see the beauty in you. It’s a suitable eye-cleaning exercise to remove the debris from their vision.

It’s advisable to look for further opportunities—in terms of utility—which your fruits and vegetables seem to offer you. Why throw them immediately. Keep them for a couple of days. You may need them against unruly neighbors as catapults from the citadels of your balcony.