The Sensation of Touch

All the characters referred to in the below blog are fictitious and bear no resemblance with anyone living or dead whatsoever. Any co-incidence is purely co-incidental and unintentional.

Prologue: A small kid, Jignesh is sitting in his class. He is in the sixth standard and the Life Science is going on. The teacher is taking lessons on the “Sense Organs”

Teacher: “Students we have 5 sense organs.
1. Eyes (The sensation of Vision)
2. Ears (The sensation of Hearing)
3. Nose (The sensation of Smell)
4. Tongue (The sensation of Taste) and last but not the least
5. Skin (The sensation of Touch)”

As the final words echoed around the acoustic peripheries of the room, there was one student amongst the rest who was getting emphatic about the whole thing and could not stop himself, and started chatting with his neighbor.

Jignesh: “Hey Andy, you are quite comfortable with girls tell me, how it feels when a girl touches?”
Andy: “This is not the right time, will talk to you over this later.”
Jignesh: “Hey tell no buddy, anyway this class is boring.”
Andy: “OK, it feels nice; you will enjoy the ‘TOUCH’, its totally different.”

The words reverberated in Jignesh’s mind for long but nothing happened. Years followed and Jignesh took up Science as his subject of interest and got interested in studying about the most interesting organ of human anatomy: THE HUMAN BRAIN. Axons, neurons, cerebral hemispheres: The Frontal Lobe, the Parietal Lobe, the Occipital Lobe, the Temporal Lobe. Of these the Parietal Lobe (perception of stimuli) was of primary importance to him as those words were still making rounds in the Temporal Lobe (memory) of his brain: it feels nice, you will enjoy the ‘TOUCH’, its totally different.

He was still thinking, “What is that is so enjoyable in a woman’s touch?” And started a chain of thoughts. Nostalgia was gripping the center stage in his Temporal Lobe. He started drifting down the memory lane.

He was able to see the serendipity of the Jahnavi’s soothing silhouette from the corridors of the college, standing there as an epitome of Indian beauty. And the burning desire of talking to Jahnavi getting the better of him he maneuvered his steps towards her. Aah who said there are no vibes? Jahnavi could very well feel them in the air that someone has just stopped staring at her and now that silhouette was moving close to her. But did anyone say that vibes transmit as well? Otherwise how in the midst of so much noise, could Kamini get a feel of what was going on. Jignesh goes up to Jahnavi. Aah what an encounter. The charisma of Jahnavi’s beauty melting in the eyes of Jignesh, but alas he’s a miser at words to express himself or his desire to befriend Jahnavi. But secretly, he wishes to shake hands with her saying a cheerful “Hello”, to experience that ‘TOUCH’ which Andy described to him 6-7 years ago, and essence of which has so far eluded him, thanks to his uncanny inability to open up with girls and thanks to his ‘BOOKWORM’ image. But today Jignesh had to muster that much needed dose of courage to speak up. He tried his level best to walk up to her, brushed aside by her shoulders, her arms exposed by the sleeveless cute pink kameez and slightly curtained by the soft silky orangish-yellow chunni spurned around her adding glistening charms to her majestic beauty like bioluminescent plankton giving attractive chimes in a fresh water pond. The effect of the brush was phenomenal. Andy was right. it feels nice; you will enjoy the ‘TOUCH’.

Jignesh: “Hi… I am…. I am so sorry, actually I didn’t mean to….. I was just going through my books…..
Barely could he speak, poor thing. He was not even aware how Jahnavi is going to react to this careful mistake of his.
Jahnavi: “It’s OKJ, no problem.”

Laughing at it, less at the careful mistake by Jignesh and his subsequent stammering apology, and more at the realization that secretly how much she had enjoyed that TOUCH. But alas, if expressiveness was Jignesh’s problem, inhibitions were hers. All she could do is pass away giving a smile to him. He stood there speechless, thinking whether he will ever be again able to talk to her.

“So how good are we?”

Siddharth’s words jolted Jignesh out of the reverie. Siddharth Oberoi, the mastermind on the research, “The Sensation of Touch” and also the financial backbone of the study was more than just a co-worker and financer of the project. He was Siddharth’s closest friend.

Jignesh: “Well pretty good, I think we should be in form in a couple of weeks, and then we can go public about it. I’ll show you a small sample. The Sensation of Touch is simply a chemical reaction. It’s more like a mental phenomenon. Of course there’s biochemistry behind it, the Na/K (Sodium / Potassium) cells have their pH altered and this triggers a chemical imbalance in the Central Nervous System with impulses traveling from the point of touch to the Parietal Lobe. All this happens in a fraction of nanoseconds. The touch sensation is analyzed there and the response for the stimuli is generated”

Siddharth: “Sorry to disturb you, Jignesh, but I feel this is going too technical, we need to stress more on psychological aspect of touch. Touch is one such sense which has so many beautiful meanings attached to it. Ever imagined what happens when you do not fair well in your exams, feel stressed out and your mother puts her hands on your head and all worries are driven away in a flash of a second as if someone’s magically let loose a fatal dose on your tensions. Its assurance from your mother, “Do not worry son, there’s always a next time.” We need to explore more on the relation that exists between those unspoken words that come associated with a touch. Have you ever wondered how elated one can feel when that romantic touch enthralls on him / her from the beloved, especially the effect is more pronounced when you think about the person and that person jolts you out of the reverie with that ‘TOUCH’. So how do you think this extra zing to the touch comes into play keeping in mind the sensitivities of the above mentioned scenarios. Its feelings, expectations, and attachments, Jignesh, that also play a very vital role in deciding the effect of the “The Sensation of Touch.” It is not merely those Na/k cells triggering the reactions in the Parietal Lobe, but it has also got a meta-physical and Para psychological aspect to it as well. Also when there’s an element of surprise associated with it all the more fun. Its like you want something, inhibiting to exhibit the desire, you get it and you rejoice.”

The words knocked hard at the Temporal Lobe (associated with memory) of Jignesh like a thunderbolt. Thoughts traveling down his memory lane, with the tepidity of hammerhead sharks traveling in a megaplume, at the sense of blood a mile away with their enhanced telencephalon olfactory lobes, and he was still standing there trying to gather him after that “brush” with Jahnavi.

Kamini had been watching the whole scenario dispassionately. She could sense the inability of Jignesh in expressing his desire and then the debacle, the careful mistake, the stammering apology and the enigmatic, revealing yet concealing smile of Jahnavi.

“Boys will always be boys”, she said, swirling down her sensuous fingers down Jignesh’s face line. The ‘TOUCH’ almost threw the ground off Jignesh’s feet. Little did he expect that the ‘TOUCH’ which has so far eluded will be showered upon him extravagantly the manner it was being showered.

Siddharth: “I hope you are getting my point Jignesh.”, placing a hand on Jignesh’s shoulders and Jignesh, dragged back to the present agreed that Siddharth was right. Definitely the Na/K cells played the technical role in the sensation of touch, but its effects were surely affected by the psychological state of the individual and other dynamics associated with the touch. More research needs to be done on this. Having said that he was again back to his college days. Jahnavi was simply too hard to ignore. Her flawless beauty compounded by her simplicity and her charismatic charm supplemented by her 1000 watts smile was a treat to an eye. Jignesh thought Jahnavi was just his dream and he could never strike a relationship with her. Moreover his hectic schedule in Science did not allow him to take out time for Jahnavi. But her thoughts always took him back to those lovely college days where he could at least see her. That sensation of her ‘TOUCH’ always remained afresh in his mind this research of his on ‘The Sensation of Touch’ had reminisced him of that essence innumerable times.