Bhoot Jolokia

(Photograph By: Stephen Styris)

Everyone whom I asked to write a piece based on this picture laughed out loud (not the LOL of chats, but in real). I guess everyone has a funny story with bhoot jolokias, world’s hottest chillies. Strangely, no one was ready to share it in the form of an article. Perhaps they find it very embarrassing. So, I decided to share my experiences. I hope you like it.

It was my first experience with Bhoot Jolokias. I was totally ignorant about its terror. A friend brought a few from the Sunday market. I thought, they were Shimla Mirch so was not interested. He told me that they are very hot and you need some real guts to eat them.
I gave him a look and claimed that I can eat them easily. Then came the challenge. It was very simple, you have to smile while eating them.
I took one of them, and took the first bite. Nothing happened. Then I put the rest inside my mouth and started chewing. There was a brief silence and I was smiling till then. I could see everyone counting 1, 2, 3 and…..

I felt as if some bomb blast took place inside my mouth. Because of the challenge, I was trying hard to smile. But, teardrops were draining from my eyes. As I went for water, my friend stopped me as it could burn by foodpipe. He gave me a piece of lemon and asked to chew it. I felt nice after that, but it was burning and now that the chilly was in my stomach, I felt like throwing out my stomach from my body. It took about two hours to cool off.

The drama continued till next day morning when I felt like a rocket with my back on fire. So that was my story. Do you have any? Do tell us.

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