My birthplace is called by many different names. It is called as Belagavi, Belgoan, Belgaum and Venugram. Whatever name you call, it doesn't change the experience of being there. At an elevation of 784 meters the weather, especially in winters, is as good as any hill station. Forty years ago, the winters were much colder and foggy though.
Since my childhood, I have been a morning person. Maybe, it is because of my grandmother who built this habit in me. Every morning, in the pretext of helping her in warming-up the bathwater, I played with fire... quite literally. It gave me the required warmth in those chilly mornings. It was fun to kindle the 'bamb' - the Marathi word for the manual water boiler with wood and a little kerosene oil. I was the first one to get that warm water for a bath. My grandmother refilled the boiler after giving me my bucket of water mixed with a little cold water to make it bearable for my skin.
Every morning, in the pretext of helping her in warming-up the bathwater, I played with fire... quite literally. It gave me the required warmth in those chilly mornings. It was fun to kindle the 'bamb'...
It was a pleasure to bath with the lukewarm water in those chilly mornings. What is more memorable for me is the fragrance of that smoked water. I don't have a word to describe that smell. The first pot of smoked water on the head and the body was a bliss! For me, that smell of warm water was more fragrant than soaps and shampoos used for bathing. That smokey fragrance was not only in the water but also in the steam coming out of the hot water. Thus the entire bathroom was filled with that transcending fragrance. In the coming years, the smoky smell for me got associated with morning energy and freshness. It gave me a sense of a new beginning.
Today we have electric and solar geysers. We get hot water quickly, without the efforts and sparing the time required to kindle the boiler and boil the water. But, today it takes time and effort to get that freshness and energy to begin a new day...
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The mention of smoky water brought back memories. My nostrils are filled with that smell of burnt wood that infuses itself into the water as it burns beneath the aluminium port. That red embers that glow in the dark is so vivid now. And while bathing when you gulped a little water, you get a smoky taste is now playing on my palate. I can hear the sound the water makes as it is cupped into the mug and as it flows down and splashes on the ground around you.