"Rebel by birth"

It was a good birthday this year, but not the best of ones.

I turned 24 and my parents persisted on buying me a piece of jewelry, I personally never enjoyed wearing any ornaments since a long time, they just don’t feel comfortable on my skin.

However I remember getting my left earlobe pierced after 10th standard, because my sister wanted me to! She was not the only reason though, I was interested too, and I went on to get my left earlobe pierced.

7 years later, my mom tells me that I need to get my other earlobe pierced, frankly speaking, I had the same thoughts for the past few months and we decided to get it done soon.

On my birthday, post lunch, my mom calls me and informs me that they are going to the jewelry store and that I should directly visit them, and I did so like an obedient kid. I went straight to the store with a close friend of mine and picked a single ear stud. 

I picked one stud and looked at my mom for approval, my mom picks the other one.

“But only one ear of mine is pierced” I said,

“Get the other one pierced here” was her reply, 

At this moment, I took one of the most impulsive decisions of my life, I decided that I shall get my right earlobe pierced and got the necessary things done, went and purchased the pair of studs.

Walked straight to the goldsmith there and was terrified by the sight, he held a fire torch and was heating a piece of jewelry, that is when I realized that I had to specifically ask for a gunshot and not the heated copper wire method which is gruesome.

As I stood in front of him, shocked by the sight, he saw me and asked me what I wanted,

“I need to get my ear pierced” I replied,

“Gunshot!” I insisted  

He nodded his head, took the machine out, and asked me for the studs, I handed it over to him.

I went back to the day I got my left ear pierced, I remember holding my sisters hand stiffly while the guy pierced my ears, I remember not even feeling a thing. 

“Is it done? I did not even feel it!” was my exact reaction, 

While that replayed in my brain, I asked the goldsmith if it would hurt, he said “Yes!”

“I would not lie to you, it is going to hurt” he added.

I looked at my friend, he was holding his phone with the camera open, to record me screaming my lungs out when my ear got pierced, I contemplated my relation with him, and he laughed sheepishly and nodded to get it pierced.

After a minute he pierced my right earlobe, a sharp pain passed through the muscle, it ached, but for the major part it only burned, my ear had turned red, the pain started building gradually.

But the story doesn’t end here, the real story dates back to when I was just 9 months old, now you might question me as to how I remember it, this is something that I have heard all my life and I shall pass onto you readers.

File image

Source: internet

When a baby is around 9 months old, there is a tradition in our household where the baby is tonsured and the ears are pierced in the traditional heated copper wire method, I know that it sounds cruel but we as an entire generation have gone through this.

First my head was clean shaved, and as a baby I naturally cried, I still search the album looking for a single picture where I am happy and I fail every time, I know it is obvious.

Now imagine a 9 month old kid crying since few hours, on a stranger’s lap, who is holding a hot piece of copper wire, ready to pierce right through both the earlobes.

It is nothing short of another Annabelle, but what happened next might leave you laughing.

It seems that as soon as he pierced through the first earlobe, I straightaway punched him in the chin!

A rebel by birth indeed, a rebel whose punch couldn’t stop his other earlobe getting pierced.

The guy laughed it off and went onto complete his work, I still wonder if he was ever embarrassed getting punched by a 9 month old baby.

I don’t even remember any bit of this, but the heroic feel I get every time any of my relatives narrate this is unmatchable, they might find it funny, but for me it is a completely different feeling.

Small instances like these always leave a smile on our faces, I always ponder over them, the authenticity of these incidents might not be very true but listening to them is always a thrill, such memories are essential in life when you are too low, go on and have a laugh here and there, life is too small to live in the past. 

A very belated happy new year 2022!

Keep smiling!

Stay safe!