The Bride Gets Ready (Part II)

1. Mix 1/8^th teaspoon pepper powder with honey and lick it off. Immediately, take 1 harde murabba and 1 amla murabba. Add honey, lemon juice and ginger juice to lukewarm water. Drink this liquid. This forms a mini-breakfast.
2. The bride was given a separate room. She was also given a loose garment made from an old sari. She was isolated in that room. Her hair was tied up and covered with a towel. A carpet was spread on the floor. She was made to lie down on the carpet. The old lady sprinkled raw milk on her body from face to toe and massaged her for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes this was wiped off twice with a towel dipped in warm water. This process can be compared to the cleansing that is done in salons and spas.
3. The mixture of Kasturi turmeric in raw milk was applied all over the body. She was scrubbed with Kasturi turmeric. Again the scrub was removed with towel dipped in warm water.
4. Kasturi turmeric was added to sour curd and applied on her body. After 15 minutes, it was washed off.
5. The paste of raw turmeric in raw cow’s milk had been placed aside. This was used to apply on her full body. That was scrubbed off with towel dipped in warm water.
6. Coconut oil was warmed with neem leaves. This oil was applied all over her body and massaged until it was absorbed into her body.
7. Gram flour, Kasturi turmeric and cow’s raw milk were made into a paste and applied to her entire body. This was left to dry like a pack. That was again wiped off with towel dipped in warm water.
8. She was then told to bathe with green gram paste in raw cow’s milk. This was used instead of soap. When she came out, she looked very fresh and good.

The entire routine was adhered to every day for 7 days twice a day. After that until the day before marriage the routine was followed only in the morning. She turned out to be the most beautiful bride in that village.

When my aunt met this girl and her husband in a temple, the girl, who used to be of a wheatish complexion, looked like a golden girl. My aunt asked her how did this happen. She told my aunt her story and also said that she used the packet milk to follow the same routine once a day. She also said that time adjustment is an issue since it takes 45 minutes to 1 hour for it. She was not sure how long she would be able to continue the same routine.

If anyone had enough time, they could do this procedure twice or thrice in a week or once in a week or once in 15 days. This is a natural herbal treatment without any chemicals.