Its been almost two years here in Jharkhand, the city is beautiful, the weather is amazing, there are good people around; the only thing I can’t wrap my head around is that where do they get so much saliva to keep spitting around.
Its the power of the saliva, or salivation, rather the art of spitting, people threaten others, its like a way to display power. The power that they hold on the fellow being, the power to disdain spruced image, the display of stark masculinity, and the mere contempt to law.
Technically speaking, the amount of saliva that is produced in a healthy person; ranges from 0.75 to 1.5 litres per day. Also now process of salivation is primarily observed when a person is eating or drooling at food (or other stuff and people); hence at least 55-60% of produced saliva would be utilised for digestion or showing concupiscence. Now if a person spits every 5 mints around 5-7 ml of saliva (which differs from person to person); it’d take spitting around 180-200 times. So its like 600 seconds of spitting by around half the population of the state, so every second, at least 90 people spit in this very town. Too much math and way too much spit.
I contemplated at the pleasures of this spewing process, encountered almost everywhere, all the time. I tried it myself, it takes it unnecessary pain to clear your throat, so the bulk comes out, then spew it with full force, give it a direction to make it land appropriately (or inappropriately) and not to mention the awful sound it makes all throughout this process. Conclusion its not worth the pain.
Although the new interest that I developed in the course of researching was the reactions that people give, when frowned at, during or after the process of spit making and launching. Moreover the other reactions are from the people who tried to avoid the process, making the spit bins available and enamouring it with slogans was even more delightful.
A man I met in one of my recent visits, who is not a tobacco chewer, told me that he gets the urge to spit suddenly on of the few locations and on a certain point in time and he just can’t resist it. Then there was another one, who told he wasn’t a spitter, but the place where he works, everyone chews tobacco (hence spits). Although he doesn’t chew tobacco but spits for the company, it makes him feel like an integral part of the group. There was another case of, intent spitter. He told that he spits on people for the sheer purpose of revenging. He has spat on everyone of his office and neighbours for reasons like making him work late, putting garbage near his front door; he is a avenge spitter. The most exquisite of all were a old lady who told that its not the cough so much that makes her spit, but the memory of her dead husband. She remembers the time when he was alive and they has spitting competitions (the farther it travelled the better). All these were the spit enthusiasts.
The habituated act of spitting, that are antagonising for a few of us, our Prime Minister launched a whole program to get rid of this age old habit of Indians. I just see and feel that the change is not so much seen in the spit capital of the country. Its a leisure activity, a sport maybe for some. Never the less its odious, and ignominious being used as a power play. I just hope my memories of Ranchi could stay beautiful without the belching process around. A humble request of a pissed off citizen.
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