Sepia Sunday
NATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOMOEOPATHY 1994 Jul / Aug Vol III No 4.
Parinaz Humranwala.
Materia Medica.
` Sep.
It was a bright sunny Sunday morning and as the sun filtered through into Mrs. Sepias bedroom, it seemed to have done little to contribute to her spirits. She woke up as usual with a long drawn face, with fatigue and anxiety writ large over it, brooding over the household chores that awaited her. But Mrs. Sepia was determined not to let the prospect of a long and tedious days drudgery dampen her resolve to indulge in her latest obsession - aerobics. She switched on the TV and got into the rhythm as she swung her limbs to and fro. Her success with aerobics thrilled her and inspite of the number of ailments afflicting her in climacteric, she felt wonderful after the exercise. Drenched with sweat streaming down her face and still recovering from exhaustion, Mrs. Sepia wondered, not without some envy, as to how her neighbours Dr. Opium and Mr. Nux-moschata slept so well, oblivious of the noise and din in the streets of the city of Materia Medica. She peered down from the window and saw Miss Pulsatilla taking a walk in the garden. Miss Pulsatillas manner of walking never ceased to amuse Mrs. Sepia - slow, sluggish, giving you the feeling that paused to inhale fresh air with every step that she took.
Just then her children, little Baryta-carb and baby China woke up, the latter wailing away at the top of her voice. Mrs. sepia not meeting with much success in pacifying the kids, walked away to the kitchen. Baby Cina wanted someone to dote on her, carry her around and as she saw her mother walking away, she once again broke into loud sobs interspersed with incomprehensible wailing which had a unique up and down tone of its own. Her elder brother Baryta Carb seemed to be unmoved inspite of the commotion caused by his baby sister. He kept sitting there with a stupid expression on his face, saliva running down the corners of his mouth, with a flaccid posture that would remind one of the boneless wonders that one might expect to see in a Circus.
Mrs. Sepia busied herself with her work so that she could be ready to watch the serial Ramayana on TV. As the hands of the giant grandfather clock approached half past nine, Baryta Carb was duly dumped in a corner of the sofa and baby Cina was entrusted to the custody of the maid to prevent any disturbance while the programme was on.
The serial had evoked much interest in the neighbourhood and brought in its wake a fair share of fresh gossip. The neighbourhood was full of stories about how people generally reacted tot he serial, but the one that tickled most people was about Shrimati Lachesis who, it seemed made it a point to garland the TV set, apply a tilak on it and perform pooja in front of it before the serial began.
The doorbell rang and the self invited Mrs. Arsenic walked in "Oh Mrs. Sepia, surely you wouldnt mind my joining you for the serial" she said not waiting for even a "Hello" from Mrs. Sepia. "My idiot box had to conk out at such a crucial time! Pity", she explained. Mrs. Sepia whose generosity was nothing to write home about, understood quite well that this was a common excuse employed by Mrs. Arsenic to keep her electricity bills down.
Just as Mrs. Arsenic was about to make herself comfortable, she noticed the general state of untidiness around Sepias living room. A Nirma detergent ad was showing on the screen and Mrs. Arsenic seized the opportunity to comment on the necessity to keep the curtains and sofa covers clean. Sepia considered this as a great insult to her reputation as the laundry-woman and made her displeasure over Mrs. Arsenics observation quite obvious.
Before the conversation could take an ugly turn, their attention was diverted to the serial. the mood was somber and tension ran high as Lakshman lay flat on his back, believed to be dead, with Lord Rama in tears kneeling down besides him. The vaidraj was summoned and Hanuman volunteered to get the necessary herbs. The time was short, Vaidraj had warned and the journey to be undertaken by Hanuman was a long one. The atmosphere was tense; would the great Hanuman be back in time? Mrs. Arsenic became fearful and restless. She sat on the edge of the sofa, then moved to a chair closer to the TV, still very anxious about the fate of Lakshman. Mrs. SEpias timely intervention prevented her from getting any closer to the TV.
Loud sobs were suddenly heard outside an on inquiring it was confirmed that Mr. Lycopodium broke into sobs at the sight of the dutiful brother lying cold and helpless. He was advised by Dr. Opium to have warm drinks, which settled him down immediately.
Soon the herbs arrived and Lakshman is up, touching the feet of Lord Rama. In the excitement that follows Lakshmans recovery, baby Cina was left unattended and she spared no effort to demonstrate her annoyance as she shrilled aloud. Mrs. Sepia who was in no mood to pacify her, spanked her and packed her off with the maid to another room.
Kumbhakarna was now sent on to the battle field to stamp out Rama and his Vanar sena. He scared the wits out of the Vanar Sena and our Mrs. Arsenic began to shiver with fever. Suddenly she developed a profuse coryza and appeared to be ill. Mrs. Sepia wondered whether she ought to get her some warm blankets but cast away the thought at the idea of losing even a few precious minutes of the highly absorbing serial.
At this stage Mrs. Sepia was musing to herself what would have happened had Mr. Mercurius been watching the serial that day. On seeing Kumbhakarna he would have rushed to the screen and stabbed the TV set, leaving it looking like an Onida advertisement. She was happy that she did not have Mercurius to add to the crowd. She had enough trouble with those around.
At the social gathering of the people of Materia Medica City that evening, it was generally felt that the city must stage its own version of the great epic Ramayana. Mr. Natrum-mur who was still brooding over Lakshmans unconsciousness suggested the epic performed by them would also be filmed. Mr. Veratrum-alb with his spendthrift reputation, immediately offered to produce and finance the film. It was proposed that Kumbhakarna should be Mr. Calcarea-carb who was quite thrilled with the idea that he would attract a lot attention. Other roles were decided on but when it came to deciding who would play Lord Rama there was a virtual scramble with Mr. Drosera, Mr. Lycopodium and Mr. Nux vomica all staking claim to the role. Meanwhile Miss Platina made it obvious that she was the only person fit to play Sita, with her superior bearing and impeccable upbringing. But there were other ladies how disputed her claim to the crown. What followed was a brawl with people shouting at the top of their voices and some spirited ones even coming to blows.
Mr. Cannabis-indica sat in a remote corner of the room, all the while sipping his tea away at the mad tea party.
