“Haa, haaa, haaaaa!” Guddu jubilantly made an elongated, humming sound with an open mouth, exhaling a fresh, minty whiff of air to herald the start of another good morning.

For him, each morning started with a clean, freshened mouth, signalling the perfect beginning of a beautiful day replete with fun, frolic and frivolity. Therefore, more than anything else, it was necessary to mark a new day’s outset with a tempting toothpaste, which had to be yummy with a pleasant, minty taste and smooth texture, enjoyable till the last blob.

It was his mum who always called the shots when it came to buying groceries for the home, not to exclude anything conceivable under the sun, which was or could be used or consumed inside the house. So Guddu found himself mustering up the courage to convince his mother to get rid of the old, boring toothpaste, despite its age-old proven benefits. Instead, as Guddu believed with all his heart and soul, it was time to go for a much-advertised toothpaste, mostly because of its presumed taste credentials boasting an exotic gelled texture with some new exciting flavours, coupled with an irresistible, eye-catching packaging to boot.

Behind his strong penchant for yummy toothpaste, Guddu had a logic too. For him, the goodness of a consumable thing can easily be measured by its rich taste, and anything that tastes pleasant was bound to be a good thing. It was as simple as that!

“Mummy! When will we go for the monthly grocery shopping?” Guddu asked his mother in a meek voice, summoning up his courage to get to his point at the earliest possible moment.

“At the start of the new month, of course,” his mum, fully occupied in the kitchen, replied with a puzzled expression.

“Oh! That’s too far, mummy. I think we quickly need to get rid of the boring toothpaste we have been using for a very long time,” Guddu came straight to the point before his courage ran out.

“Boring toothpaste? Is there any ‘interesting’ or ‘entertaining’ toothpaste available in the market, Guddu?” mum retorted with quite a sarcastic tone.

“I mean, the toothpaste we use at home is quite bland and tasteless.”

“Is it a toothpaste you are seriously looking for or a delectable Popsicle to pop in your mouth?” mummy asked, amused at Guddu’s reply.

“I mean it, mum. A toothpaste with an awful taste leads to a terrible start of the day,” Guddu tried to explain his point.

“Does the toothpaste we use taste that bad, Guddu?” she enquired.

“No, it doesn’t. But since we have been using it for a long time, it tastes quite ordinary now. We now must try something more exciting and more flavoursome,” Guddu suggested.

“Why are you laying more stress on flavour than anything else?”

“Because anything that tastes better always comes out to be a good thing,” he explained.

“I don’t think so. Then what about scores of those unbranded, inferior-quality candies, sweets and low-grade confectionery items that are quite cheap, available everywhere and taste irresistibly delicious? Yet, they are totally harmful to health in general and dental health in particular,” mummy explained her point.

“I know it, mum. But a toothpaste should not taste like cough syrup,” Guddu insisted.

“I understand, Guddu. But we cannot go for a toothpaste just because it tastes awesome,” mummy patiently explained to the little boy.

Guddu returned to his room with a low head, feeling bitterly disappointed. Since the mission had not yet been accomplished, Guddu thought he needed some more supporters to convince his mother to try the new, yummy toothpaste.

“Grandma! Haven’t you been used to the old toothpaste we have been using at home for ages?” Guddu humbly asked his granny in order to get her on board. After all, mum can never say ‘no’ to grandma because of her being the most senior person at home.

“I don’t use toothpaste, Guddu. My tooth powder works wonders for me,” grandma’s unexpected reply took Guddu by surprise.

“Tooth powder? Does it taste better, grandma?”

“No. It’s tasteless, but quite effective for dental care for people of my age. I am a big fan of it,” grandma explained.

Unable to get the job done, Guddu was now a bit confused, pondering the logic of sticking to something that had no taste at all.

Not only grandma, Shiza baji was also fond of eating plain yogurt, even without adding sugar. Bhai jan, seemingly a body-building freak, believed in drinking a glass of warm milk daily before bed, without mixing any such sweetener to enhance the taste.

But how can these people be so taste-averse? Not just that, Papa poured a spoonful of psyllium husk powder into his mouth just with a glass of water, and that too twice a day.

“Papa! Why do you take husk powder every day?” Guddu asked in a bewildered tone.

“Because it is very good for the stomach and helps in maintaining regular bowel movements,” papa replied.

“That’s fine, papa. But it is such a tasteless thing, so how can you gulp down a totally dry, flavourless powder like this so easily? Are you not taste conscious?”

“We all are taste-conscious, Guddu,” papa answered.

“Then why don’t you add some sweetner or any other exciting flavour to make it more delectable?” asked Guddu.

“Because we are health conscious, too. And when it comes to medicines, we look primarily for their health benefits instead of their taste, bitter or sweet. One must be mature enough to distinguish between a medicine and a comestible, edible item. In fact, our health is well beyond taste, and we may sacrifice a momentary pleasure we derive from food for our long-term well-being. In fact, taste is not everything. Am I right, Guddu?” papa explained.

“Am I health conscious, or just taste conscious — someone who assesses everything on the basis of its flavour instead of its short — on long-term health benefits?” Guddu asked himself.

“What’s the name of the new yummy toothpaste you were talking about?” mum’s voice shook Guddu from his deep thoughts.

“Leave it, mum. Let me first find out the real health benefits it offers for teeth and overall oral hygiene,” replied Guddu in a thoughtful tone.

Mum was happy since she knew that Guddu could now differentiate between merely a yummy toothpaste and a toothpaste which was good for his teeth and gums.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 2nd, 2023