<p>The winter season is much awaited as it’s loaded with its own charm and beauty. Its arrival is always welcomed with a sense of great joy and comfort as it brings us a much needed respite from the scorching heat of the hot and sultry months of summers.</p>.<p>The pleasures of the season, even as winter is setting in, are enjoyed by both the aged and children. When winter is in its nascent stage, it is bearable and enjoyable but as the months advance from November to January, the harsher side of the season envelopes the environs in a thick blanket of fog, making it tough for us to carry out our routine chores. </p>.<p>While nostalgically walking down memory lane I wish to make my candid confession about the bathing blues that I used to bear with a lot of discomfort during my childhood. Even the idea of bathing in the extremely harsh winters was reason enough to send cold shivers down my spine. At the very thought of it, I would shudder within my soul. After all, all great people do not bathe daily. Queen Isabella I of Spain only bathed twice in her life — once when she was born, and once before she married. Queen Elizabeth I is known for the Spanish Armada, never marrying, and announcing: ‘I take a bath once a month, whether I need to or not.’</p>.<p>My stern father was in complete contrast with me and such famous personalities. He always insisted that I take a bath even if it was bitterly cold. He never spared a thought for me and my siblings when he forced us to go through the ordeal. But unlike him I was a complete votary of the brigade which gave credence to the concept of bathing on alternate days and hence wanted that this culture should also prevail in the bathroom of my home, too.</p>.<p>A large number of people are aware of the benefits of waking up early in the morning and taking an elaborate bath whatever the season may be. My disciplined father, even after his retirement, has been sticking to his guns.</p>.<p>He wakes up at times before the sun rises and bathes in cold water even in extremely bone-freezing wintry months.</p>.<p>Bathing for him is not just a method of maintaining hygiene. It is an ablution or a devotional ceremony which must be performed with due solemnity. Times have changed, so have most of the habits. But that old habit has not been fully abandoned neither by me nor by my father. We are both incorrigible. As wont to him, my father is infallible in his regular ablution. Similarly, I have been still practicing that same trick today which I had devised in my childhood days. Under the very nose of my father I would hoodwink the torments of chill by merely wetting my hair and rinsing my face in a carefully bolted bathroom.</p>.<p>Though these days, in order to make my ploy more foolproof, the fully audible bathroom singing is also restored to and the ritual of bathing is observed on every alternate day in the cruel bone rattling wintry months. It is also completely subject to the availability of tepid water.</p>.<p>Someone has rightly said that You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. </p>.<p>Here I have another squib particularly for my father that you can take your child to the bathroom but cannot force him to have a bath!</p>
<p>The winter season is much awaited as it’s loaded with its own charm and beauty. Its arrival is always welcomed with a sense of great joy and comfort as it brings us a much needed respite from the scorching heat of the hot and sultry months of summers.</p>.<p>The pleasures of the season, even as winter is setting in, are enjoyed by both the aged and children. When winter is in its nascent stage, it is bearable and enjoyable but as the months advance from November to January, the harsher side of the season envelopes the environs in a thick blanket of fog, making it tough for us to carry out our routine chores. </p>.<p>While nostalgically walking down memory lane I wish to make my candid confession about the bathing blues that I used to bear with a lot of discomfort during my childhood. Even the idea of bathing in the extremely harsh winters was reason enough to send cold shivers down my spine. At the very thought of it, I would shudder within my soul. After all, all great people do not bathe daily. Queen Isabella I of Spain only bathed twice in her life — once when she was born, and once before she married. Queen Elizabeth I is known for the Spanish Armada, never marrying, and announcing: ‘I take a bath once a month, whether I need to or not.’</p>.<p>My stern father was in complete contrast with me and such famous personalities. He always insisted that I take a bath even if it was bitterly cold. He never spared a thought for me and my siblings when he forced us to go through the ordeal. But unlike him I was a complete votary of the brigade which gave credence to the concept of bathing on alternate days and hence wanted that this culture should also prevail in the bathroom of my home, too.</p>.<p>A large number of people are aware of the benefits of waking up early in the morning and taking an elaborate bath whatever the season may be. My disciplined father, even after his retirement, has been sticking to his guns.</p>.<p>He wakes up at times before the sun rises and bathes in cold water even in extremely bone-freezing wintry months.</p>.<p>Bathing for him is not just a method of maintaining hygiene. It is an ablution or a devotional ceremony which must be performed with due solemnity. Times have changed, so have most of the habits. But that old habit has not been fully abandoned neither by me nor by my father. We are both incorrigible. As wont to him, my father is infallible in his regular ablution. Similarly, I have been still practicing that same trick today which I had devised in my childhood days. Under the very nose of my father I would hoodwink the torments of chill by merely wetting my hair and rinsing my face in a carefully bolted bathroom.</p>.<p>Though these days, in order to make my ploy more foolproof, the fully audible bathroom singing is also restored to and the ritual of bathing is observed on every alternate day in the cruel bone rattling wintry months. It is also completely subject to the availability of tepid water.</p>.<p>Someone has rightly said that You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink. </p>.<p>Here I have another squib particularly for my father that you can take your child to the bathroom but cannot force him to have a bath!</p>