BHULIZHAAD

Stories sound real, while they might be unreal. Stories sound unreal, while being real. For some they are stories, I mean just stories. Utility being entertainment or subject matter for short term memory loss. If stories make sense, then tap onto your intellect. If not, please don't take the burden to remember or just call it a story. That's the common idea. Hold on there, I'm not high on any substance. Read through, if you feel it makes sense probably it's not a bad idea to be awe-struck. If not, you can choose to opine 'It's a story after all'. Or even better, the mainstay if confronted will make you forget or remember?

Short story 1

After a scrumptious meal at Gundi Temple,Mundaje a young girl and her mother left back to their abode in Bangadi. Before leaving the shindig, they bid adieu and marched their way. After a brief walk of 20 mins, they initiated a repetitive saunter. They revisted the same place every 2-3 mins. After 3 to 4 such episodes they realised something was wrong. To their fate, both of them had adorned themselves with gold maybe a little too much. It was truly flabbergasting to believe that they couldn't recall their way back home. A very familiar route which they passed by often. They didn't leave any stone unturned. They couldn't even find a way back to Gundi Temple. If they found a local and asked the way, then they would have had no izzat left on their account. The young girl roaming around the same way again and again was still acceptable through a third person's lens. But her mother who was an adult doing the same seemed fatuous. She held a respectable position in the society otherwise. Clearly, a mother just tagging along with her daughter in such doltish act was concerning to others. Very gormless to themselves. After 2 to 3 hours of tireless hunt, they finally navigated themselves back home easily. But those 2 hours were miserable rather surprising. Losing an everyday way isn't something easily believable. The reason behind is still an exclamation rather a question mark. This isn't fiction. This is a true incident. I can authoritatively say it as the characters in the story are none other than my mother and her mother,Ayye  and Mattiye as I call them in my vernacular Chithpavani. 

Short Story 2 

My uncle, Aravind Hebbar, encountered a strikingly similar incident approximately five years ago. While returning home from a jamboree, he found himself at a loss regarding the route. A route which he could have blindly travelled had eluded his mind.  Fortunately, his wife proved to be his saving grace as she promptly provided him with directions. In order to reach their residence, one must navigate through a small road in a locality known as 'Seat'. However, upon his return journey, he found himself at a loss, having forgotten the way back after the saunter. He resolved to continue straight on the main road without deviating. Without his wife's assistance, he would have aimlessly wandered in search of his way home for at least a good 3 hours.

Short Story 3

An usual ritual in my Native(DK) is going to the farm and working. During my recent visit to native, I accompanied our field worker Chennamma to pick Arecanut. With only one basket for collecting Arecanuts, we were forced to work in close proximity until we stumbled upon an Areca leaf that allowed us to collect more efficiently. With the newfound freedom to roam around, we ventured in different directions, with me in one block and Chennamma in another, approximately 5-6 blocks away. After completing the work, I wanted to return back home. I wandered around so many times but couldn't find a way back. I could hear her calling me anxiously from a distance as I was not to be seen to her. She was in cold sweat as she went around searching for me. I had gone no where but roaming around in the same block. No matter how many times I tapped into my memory, I found myself at a loss, having forgotten the way. Chennamma's repeated yelps in Tulu "Akku... Akku... vollar" (Where are you?) added to fright. In return, I voiced "Voo.. Yaan Mule Ulle" (I'm here). Even I was twitchy due to my memory loss which had a toll in my tone. Hearing me, she was on tenterhooks. She immediately ran around the field and somehow located me and directed me back home.  

These stories sound exciting, unbelievable and mysterious. The fact that there is something which makes one forget routes is for sure. They say that it's a plant called "BHULIZHAAD" which causes this phenomenon. There are so many tales of incidents in the past and recent past aswell where people have aimlessly wandered around to guide themselves home. BHULIZHAAD is such a plant which nobody has ever seen. Such incidents have usually occurred at places where there is everyday movement of people. If it was a plant then such memory loss incidents should have occurred everyday. It often makes me wonder if it's actually a plant. I feel it might be something else. My cousin speculates it is may be a substance present in the air, when inhaled erases one's declarative memory for a while. Interestingly, this particular phenomenon is not explored .Eminent phytologists including B.G.L Swamy haven't explored or written about it. "BHULIZHAAD" is a term in  Chithpavani and Hindi which isn't present in the dictionaries of any other languages. If unexplored no wonder these tales sound very hilarious. Even if a person experiences it and narrates it, without a doubt people would say s/he is fooling around. On a concluding note, I can neither say 'go lose your way' nor can I say 'stay away from Bhulizhaad'.

This blog ends abruptly in a way but the curiosity remains. Infact,I'm still interested to know about the feeling of being lost in spite of experiencing it once already. If you have such experiences in your memory bank, please write to me writetoaapti@gmail.com or DM on my social media handles. 

Aapti Patwardhan