Kaala Teeka - The Black Spot

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While my mom detested her mother-in-law, who insisted on putting the 'kaala teeka' on the forehead of all her grandchildren, she would blabber hundreds of reasons of putting it on the forehead every day, the moment her grand children were bathed and cleaned. The routine that was followed religiously emphasised on putting the kaala teeka or the black spot on the middle of the forehead between the eyebrows and another one on the rear side of the forehead, 'temple' area with kohl. The only prominent explanation put forwarded by her was the strategy to ward off the evil, the 'buri nazar'. It was an unseen belief and may be we were protected from the evil eyes; well unknown to anyone.

Our eyes were not even spared in the pretext of converting them to the beautiful ones just by applying the kajal on them. Though, much later when we scutinised our childhood pictures, all of us felt ourselves as fair kids overly decorated with powder and kajal. She would prepare this kohl herself, especially in the evening when she would complete all her household duties, and that she is disturbed by noone. 

I as the curious child, and her obedient grandchild, would incline on the long and comfortable couch positioned near the only window of her room. I loved  staying with her. She was a learned lady of those times when girls were not even allowed to come out of their houses. She could read and write the English language along with her vernacular competence. I enjoyed talking to her about anything and everything and she loved imparting the stored knowledge stowed inside her. She had a huge collection of books stacked on the rack near the window. Some of those were so corpulent that I wondered, if I would ever be able to read those in my lifetime and secondly, if this old lady had already ventured each of them. And whenever I had conveyed my thoughts to her, she would smile and say, ' do not worry beta, you will inherit those after me'. The younger me who had just learnt to speak few sentences in English, would be diasppointed at this thought of inheriting these huge books from her granny and not any jewellery. I never knew though if she had  jewelleries as I never saw her embellishing herself with any. But, the little me assumed she had loads of them kept inside the huge trunk slided securely under her bed. It was never allowed to be touched. The presumption of a fully loaded jewellery box inside her trunk came because of the only photograph of my young granny that we had all seen. It was with her husband, just few days after her marriage. She used to be so happy about it as that was the only time she was photographed with her better half and that she was styled in her best clothes and jewelleries.

So, evening was the time when I would go to her room each day, to witness her ways of utilising the free hours. I was always fascinated the day she would prepare kohl for her grand children and all the ladies. I watched her intently, while she dipped a cotton in the sandalwood paste. Afterwards, she would fill a lamp with pure ghee and take out her favourite copper plate meant for kohl preparation. The sandalwood clad cotton was now mixed with powdered  almond and ajwain seeds and rolled to form the wick. It was carefully placed at the centre of the ghee filled lamp and lighted while she placed it underneath the copper plate for the soot to get collected on it. Next morning she would scrap all the black soot, collected on the copper plate into an empty jar further mixed with almond oil to make a desirable consistency. It was ready for application.

I had seen her doing this so many times, that when I grew up as a young woman, I had never felt the urge to buy this black ingredient of my cosmetic box but preferred to prepare it myself. Later, I had never inherited her books neither any jewelleries but this copper plate which she had sent along with me when I went for college in some other state. The mystery about her huge trunk was known to me after she died which had no jewellery but the memories of her childhood and her husband. While the books were given to some library and not to me, but I was happy to be her grandchild as she imparted so much to me, in my conscience which was irreplaceable. 

When I was a mother for the first time, I had followed my grandmother too, but in a concised strategy of just a kaala teeka on the temple of the forehead of my son.

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