Morning Ritual Among the Irtahd
Irtahd was first brought to my attention last year, after a colleague of mine found her in a small province of the Michigan Peninsula. At a stature of average height, she seemed to have originated from somewhere in the South Asian region. Though her childlike face seemed to point to her being a young creature, it was later discovered that she was of age 16.
The fundamental belief of this creature seemed to simply be to optimize efficiency, in order to allocate greater amounts of time to critical activities such as slumber and nutrient consumption. This was evident from the start of her day, as she would only stir from her mattress at a time of 6:45, though her soundbox would repeat a series of bothersome notes from 6:30 (all of which she would ignore).
Around 6:47, Irtahd would trudge into the bathroom, at which point she would begin her daily "ritual" of facial purification. Starting with her oral components, she compressed a tube of colored paste onto a small circular bundle of bristles. With the click of a button, this bundle whirred away at the pathogens on her teeth, finishing only after a mere two minutes. In the words of my colleague Horace Miner, Irtahd would douse her face in the "holy water[s]" of her "font" believing they would allow her to look radiant (unfortunately, they could not eliminate the rings of weariness around her ocular lenses).
When it hit 6:51, the creature would head back to her sleeping chamber in order to determine her apparel for the educational institution. The duration of this process seemed to average between two to four minutes, as Irtahd usually sported the most convenient or closest item to her at the time. Regarding the lengthy amount of fur originating from her skull region, she seemed to fashion it into a ~basic~ style everyday. From there, she would rush down the unmoving escalator of her living quarters in order to rapidly pick up her morning source of nourishment from her mother, which she would attempt to consume during her first academic period.
Day after day, she drove away in a silver vehicle (I later observed that many members of her species used this type of machine as primary transport), and I would be reminded of the same thought. Though her routine was organized, it seemed almost painfully monotonous, to the point of it feeling stale. This brings me to wonder whether her life is like this: dreary and humdrum. I hope to perform further investigation soon...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this take on "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema"! If you didn't realize, "Irtahd" is just "Dhatri" backward, and this piece centers on my morning routine - a part of my day that seems almost too methodical. It often makes me realize how systematic my life is, which is something that can be good at times but also unusually boring. Hopefully, this is just me feeling the mid-school blues, but I hope my life gets a bit more exciting soon!
The fundamental belief of this creature seemed to simply be to optimize efficiency, in order to allocate greater amounts of time to critical activities such as slumber and nutrient consumption. This was evident from the start of her day, as she would only stir from her mattress at a time of 6:45, though her soundbox would repeat a series of bothersome notes from 6:30 (all of which she would ignore).
Around 6:47, Irtahd would trudge into the bathroom, at which point she would begin her daily "ritual" of facial purification. Starting with her oral components, she compressed a tube of colored paste onto a small circular bundle of bristles. With the click of a button, this bundle whirred away at the pathogens on her teeth, finishing only after a mere two minutes. In the words of my colleague Horace Miner, Irtahd would douse her face in the "holy water[s]" of her "font" believing they would allow her to look radiant (unfortunately, they could not eliminate the rings of weariness around her ocular lenses).
When it hit 6:51, the creature would head back to her sleeping chamber in order to determine her apparel for the educational institution. The duration of this process seemed to average between two to four minutes, as Irtahd usually sported the most convenient or closest item to her at the time. Regarding the lengthy amount of fur originating from her skull region, she seemed to fashion it into a ~basic~ style everyday. From there, she would rush down the unmoving escalator of her living quarters in order to rapidly pick up her morning source of nourishment from her mother, which she would attempt to consume during her first academic period.
Day after day, she drove away in a silver vehicle (I later observed that many members of her species used this type of machine as primary transport), and I would be reminded of the same thought. Though her routine was organized, it seemed almost painfully monotonous, to the point of it feeling stale. This brings me to wonder whether her life is like this: dreary and humdrum. I hope to perform further investigation soon...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this take on "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema"! If you didn't realize, "Irtahd" is just "Dhatri" backward, and this piece centers on my morning routine - a part of my day that seems almost too methodical. It often makes me realize how systematic my life is, which is something that can be good at times but also unusually boring. Hopefully, this is just me feeling the mid-school blues, but I hope my life gets a bit more exciting soon!
 |
| routines... |
Nice and original idea. I really like how you did you own version of "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" with your morning routine. It was almost like a description of a creature crawling through a familiar environment, haha. Great post.
ReplyDeleteGreat work, Dhatri! I really like how you adapted the Nacirema piece to your own life, and I think the effect is just as entertaining. I especially like your take on the defamiliarization of your routines
ReplyDeleteI love how you replicated Miner's writing style. Your post gave me me a very similar feeling to the original article. Great job!
ReplyDelete