The other day I walked down stairs to the cafeteria at work and like all other days roamed the counters offering various different varieties of food trying to find the least offensive offering.
I dont quite remember what I ate that day -- it was not worth remembering -- but what I remember is feeling this intense urge to gargle afterward. Something was stuck between my molar (second or third molar, I can never tell which is which -- like second or third cousins) and my wisdom teeth. My dentist -- I don't have a regular dentist, this is the one I visited once 6 years ago -- says my wisdom teeth are growing sideways and are pushing my regular teeth and I should have them removed. I almost laughed, but for the healthy dose of Novocaine. He doesn't know that his precise analysis of my teeth was strangely metaphorical as far as my wisdom is concerned. It regularly pushes my common sense. But I digress. Coming back to intense urge to gargle... I don't usually gargle at work. I have never seen anyone do it and was wondering if it fit under 'good manners' or 'offensive personal habits', but that day I walked straight into the men's room and gargled profusely. The strand of baby spinach -- or whatever -- that was stuck in my teeth was flushed out, along with a few other perpetrators. It felt good. It gives me kicks to imagine gargling causing jets of water to gush through the crevices between teeth and flushing out food particles along the way. That's why my grand parents insisted on gargling after every meal. It is a nice substitute to dental floss which was not common in India in the twentieth century.
But gargling seems to be particularly Indian. I am not sure how many other cultures practice gargling after every meal. I wonder how 'green' dental floss is, but if it isn't then gargling can be another way to reduce your carbon footprint while keeping your teeth healthy.
Happy Gargling!
Sunday, August 02, 2009
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