The spit & tell tale

Mind the spitting as people’s habits become the country’s character and the country becomes its people, writes Niru Sarawgi

I write this because I love my country! Perhaps no other country in the world has embraced spitting the way we have! Whether India has become a spit country, a spittoon is a question to ask. The contrast is incongruous, astonishing, stunning. Our cities are so beautiful, yet so filthy...beauties rendered with ugly underbelly. Immune, apathetic, and senses atrophied, it is perfectly normal to spit and be spat upon. Nonchalant and magnanimous …we take it in our stride, literally and metaphorically. Hats off to our stoicism…we cope with the outpourings from the orifices of birds, animals, and humans with equanimity. Just as we clean the bird shit with a twinkle of the eyes, we let out a peculiarly sheepish laugh to salute the free spirit of the fellow spitting on us from the bus window.

Oh, we are quite artistic…from the “Salivadorian School” actually! As we spew jets of grey grease, purple phlegm, or much-splendoured spit, imagination runs riot…a kaleidoscope of myriad hues and shades, a mosaic of intriguing shapes and designs. And we are so adept...we can spit to the left and right, front or behind (upon if you like), far, near, everywhere. We are spot on when we spit and spoilt for choices…pavements, parks and pits. Oblivious of the stares, we indulge with gusto, streets, or stairs. Proud of our proclivity, we are sans sense and sensitivity. Amazing we are…we neither care nor do we have any shame.

Why blame? Besides pandering to our artistic cravings and being an extraordinary instrument for expressing disgust and contempt, spit comes in handy to tackle the mundane… licking stamps, counting currency, turning pages. Hygiene can wait.

As we give up on the governed as well as the governors, can we ever hope of doing away with the perpetual spots which stain our time, life, and place? Spitting can be catastrophic as a multiplier agent for infecting us with corona and a multitude of viruses and bacteria. We can split over spit, be in splits over spit, drown in spituphoria, or rise in spitcstacy; but think…people’s habits become the country’s character and the country becomes its people!