Creamy Layer

When winter comes can chapped dry and flakey skins be far behind? The red chubby cheeks would turn dry and rough, anathema for most caring mothers. Most kids dreaded the evening bed time ritual when mothers would tiptoe quietly and apply glycerine on their faces. Glycerine made our faces sticky and this evening Holi ritual reminded us of the applying of colour on the faces with the usual one liner, "Bura na mano Holi hai!"( Don't take it otherwise, it's Holi, the festival of colours). For most mothers it was their duty to keep their children's faces smooth and all possible methods were adopted, first some incentives then threats and finally just deceit engage the kids in harmless banter or even bedtime stories and then in a flash, the hands would do the trick with kids left smarting and literally licking their wounds or should I say lips, glycerine was sweet to taste!  The other variants  could be moisturisers, creams, malai(fresh cream) so on and so forth. Kids being kids couldn't care less, red chapped cheeks, the skin on the hands and feet too joining the league of culprits ....... Naturally we were adept in going to the ground, playing all those games where the contact with mother Earth was a prerequisite, which only hastened up the process. 

Uncle winters was not a welcome guest in most households, as we were forced to put on sweaters, pullovers, monkey caps and layers and layers of clothes were thrust on most of us; worst part was that the days were short. Evening games time had to be compromised and that meant more time for homework and study period, not a healthy prospect by any standard. Similarly morning hours were equally dreadful, having to part with the warm and cozy quilts to get dressed for the school. Mothers would lovingly nudge us but it was the Dad's booming voice which spurred us into action and served as the much needed marching orders.

Army is a great organisation, it takes care of each and every need of its personnel, whether it is uniform, weapons or even personal requirements such as vaseline for the winters. Each one of us was issued petroleum jelly to be applied liberally on our faces and lips in mountainous regions. Frankly the issue type vaseline was the best moisturiser against the vagaries of winter chilly winds. These days of course there is a huge market for the cosmetics associated with winter needs for soft and silky skin of the fairer ones. I often wonder why don’t they simply use pure and simple gold standard vaseline, if that were to happen the cosmetic industry would go bankrupt and may even try and malign vaseline as a product.

Old timers and the rural folk do not believe in these chemicals to enhance or protect their skin, they believed in the trusted Creamy Layer, good old malai (fresh cream) was a panacea for all their needs. South Indians would plump for coconut oil and Punjabis would go a step further and use desi ghee generously. No wonder their skins radiate even today.

Any takers for the back to the roots or malai….!