Soon, it seems, there would be a day, next Sunday, to be precise, which would celebrate washing hands. What all days people think of! True, washing hands takes place post eating as we eat with our fingers. Similarly, post certain bodily functions, 'morning ablutions' as they used to say in old-fashioned English, washing hands is s healthy and necessary practice.
When it comes to washing hands as an obsession, the Covid period was the culprit. People washed their hands till the skin literally peeled off, what with the sanitisers. As Aai was a super senior citizen, what I did was always maintaining extreme cleanliness around her.
In Mukund Nagar, we used to get only two hours respite from the Covid curfew. If at all I went to buy veggies or apples for her, I used to take a full fledged bath, head to toe, before going anywhere near her. I used to sit on the veranda steps and read the newspaper so that nothing approaching the virus approaches anywhere near her.
Washing hands always reminds me of Lady Macbeth and her guilty conscience as in Act V, Scene iii. How psychologically sensitive and subtle is Shakespeare's writing! Each time one reads it, newer associations and deeper meanings emerge.
Incidentally, English has this phrase 'wash one's hands off' which means avoid/abdicate one's responsibility. Well, the Covid period has taught us how one must never do do. Instead, let us always extend a helping hand, given our tough times!
Pratima@ 'Hands off' should be the strategy for physical and emotional well-being.
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