I was shivering. I could hear voices yet my mind refused to process them. My eyelids were getting heavy and darkness was spreading in front of my eyes. I was falling yet I felt no fear. And just like that, I gave in to the darkness that consumed me whole.
The year was 2003, the month was August and the day was the eighth. Early morning all of us, all four of my grandparents, my parents and I, started on our road trip to Haridwar, India. Getting a child’s ears pierced is more of a traditional affair in my family. The ritual takes place in a holy place and for me the chosen one was Haridwar. My grandmothers were fasting for the occasion and they would break it after taking a dip in the holy water. Following into their footsteps I decided to do the same. By the time we reached our destination, it was noon.
The holy water was extremely cold. The moment I touched it, I felt chills run through my entire body. The flow of the water was very high. People were advised to not cross the chain barriers created for their safety. I couldn’t take even a step into the water. The others were dipping themselves in with a smile on their face. After a lot of trials, I somehow managed to take a dip. When I stepped out my mom helped me change my clothes. And that’s when the shivering began. My skin was turning blue while I fainted in my mom’s arms. I woke up a few minutes later and my mom hugged me while she cried. Soon we headed for lunch and everything was back to normal.
But the scariest part was yet to come. I was taken to one of the priests near the ghats. He had a needle laced with thread, ready to puncture anyone’s ears or nose. Until then I was excited about the whole ear piercing thing, dreaming about the beautiful earrings I could eventually wear. The excitement turned into fear in a second seeing the needle. I lay still while he punctured both my ears and tied a knot with the thread. It was painful. While I pulled back my tears the others cheered. The rest of the day was spent exploring the other attractions of the holy place.
In a few days, when it was time to pull out the thread and finally put on those beautiful earrings, we realized the piercing wasn’t straight. It was more painful to get an earring through the piercing than getting it in the first place. The pain eventually left but the uneven piercing remained. Not for long though.
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