Xerostomia

XEROSTOMIA

She walked into his life, like a sliver of bright sunshine into a dark room in a gloomy winter morning. She always brought with her the freshness of dewdrops on the rosebuds, the laughter of angels and the divine music of the seraphim. She flashed him a sweet smile whenever they crossed ways. She rustled around in crisply starched cotton saris smelling of detergent and ponds dreamflower talc. He was totally smitten. Every time he crossed her in the corridors, on the stairs or in the courtyard, his heart would be beating wildly, his palms would dampen with cold sweat and beads of perspiration would line his forehead. His mouth would suddenly go dry with no drop of saliva to swallow/ moisten his parched lips. The acute dryness in his throat ruled out any comprehensible verbal communication. The only sound coming out of his mouth on such encounters would be a feeble helpless croak.  He even found a word for his condition in the dictionary “Xerostomia”.

            He tried various ways to overcome his shyness/dryness of throat. He tried chewing gum (it only tightened up his jaw muscles more), lozenges, Hail Marys, deep breathing; but nothing seemed to work. Finally, he accidently came upon a simple solution. A swig of water was found to be the panacea for his episodal Xerostomia. It appeared to work effectively, at least with others.

He started carrying a water bottle everywhere and kept his eyes peeled for her so that he could take a quick mouthful of water before coming closer and make some intelligible conversation. Numerous climbs up and down the staircase, sneaking around corners and loitering in the corridors were futile.  Finally, one day, suddenly, he saw her approaching from afar and his heart missed several beats. He managed to take in a sip of fortifying aqua pura before she came close. She flashed him her usual radiant smile. He opened his mouth confidently and his voice rang out loud and clear “Good Morning Teacher”.