Brush with the blushes

Like every one of us, I have had my share of blushes in life. My earliest memory of a rather large number of embarrassing moments is when I was caught with a tube of Ethymol, a brand of toothpaste. It was colourful and tasted delightfully sweet, and I enjoyed eating it more than brushing with it.

One day, I decided to consume one whole tube, and I found an empty room in the house. But I was soon caught by my sisters. I was promptly produced before my father marched to our father. I was shivering with fear and feeling ashamed. Thankfully, I was neither taken to task nor caned. Everybody had a hearty laugh, and I never ate toothpaste again.

When I was in primary school, I decided that, like my sisters, I must also dress up when I go to school. So, I covered my face and head with talcum powder and managed to get out of the school without my mother’s notice. Thankfully, my teacher caught me before I entered the class and dusted off the extra powder from my head.

The next instance occurred during my early schooling in the lower secondary class. We were given the homework assignment of paraphrasing a short poem: Abu Ben Adam, may his tribe increase, had a dream one night. I promptly paraphrased it as: One night Abu Ben Adam had a dream. He got up and started increasing his tribe. Need I mention the reaction of the class when the teacher read it out loud? And I took my teacher’s advice and completed my English homework with my parents’ help from then on.

My brush with blush didn’t end with my schooling.

When I was the Assistant Commissioner of Chitradurga, the amount of compensation to be paid to the owner in a land acquisition case was unduly delayed, and the court ordered the attachment of my chair. I was thrown out of my office! The government, thankfully, took immediate action and released the funds not only for my office but for the whole district. Undeservedly, I got their gratitude and became popular, though initially there was severe embarrassment.

Devaraj Urs had a liking for me and once, at Chitradurga, asked me for a pen. And I had lost my pen in the crowd. He admonished me, saying, “What kind of Deputy Commissioner are you, coming to the CM without even a pen?” Though he immediately calmed down when I told him I had just lost it and said, “Then I withdraw what I said,” I was clearly embarrassed.

We are bound to face many embarrassing situations in our lives. But we should learn how to face the blushes without losing balance.