If you’re a Goan who’s shifted to Mumbai, Bangalore or Delhi to work or study, I can bet you’ve faced people who turn speechless when they find out that you shower at night.
As for me, I can’t help but feel disgusted to find out that they don’t!!
The first time my new roommate found out that I wasn’t going to bathe that morning or the time I casually told a friend, “I can’t wait to go home and take a cold shower,” they looked at me with a smug look of morning squeaky cleanness!
Hold up!
There are these theories that support both bath-times, but here’s why bathing at night makes you feel so much better…
If you ARE living in a city like Mumbai or Delhi, you probably shower in the morning to freshen up for work.
But… it’s a city.
Everyone is literally covered in dust and grime 30 minutes after they step out the door. And most of them stay that way until the next morning. *puke*
Those who shower at night can take their own, sweet time without having to rush to work or have someone hammering on the door. There’s nowhere you have to be. Might as well sing, brainstorm or formulate an action plan for when an intruder sneaks in, right? Bathing at night is totally therapeutic – no rush, no worries about morning meetings and traffic jams. It’s simply a time to loosen up those muscles and wash the stress away!
There’s no better feeling than jumping into bed when you’re all cool and fresh. You definitely don’t feel gross when you slip between the sheets every night.
You’re clean… which keeps the sheets clean!
Not really the case when you slip into bed with the whole days worth of grime on your body now, is it?
Want to know another major perk of night-time showers? It takes two minutes to get ready in the morning. That translates to half an hour (at least) of more sleep WITH time for breakfast and finishing your homework. You won’t find Goans complaining about that!
AND another thing!!!
Got roommates? You know what it’s like to battle for bathroom time in the morning. If you’re the last one to bathe, you’ll have to jump in and jump out.
How is having to rush and hurry in the morning a good way to start a day! Please explain, morning bathers…
Let’s talk about hair! Sleeping with wet hair in the night means you’ve mastered the ‘bed head’ look in the morning. People pay beauty parlours A LOT to get the tousled look and we get it for free!.
Not to mention, spiders and creepy crawlies hate wet hair. So if you’re sleeping with dirty, dry hair, it’s like putting out the welcome mat for them. Hah!
I don’t know about the rest of you, but my hair takes hours to air-dry and style. So the options are limited to waking up at the crack of dawn to have enough time to wash, dry and style or looking like a wet, bedraggled cat all day. I ain’t got time for that!
We’re not against morning baths – hell, we may need to take them sometimes, too – to get through the humid summers. But what we don’t understand is everyone’s aversion to night showers.
Why the “euuuuu,” bro?
I for one, shower at night. If I get home at 1am, I’ll darn well shower at 1am.
Unless I know I’ll be late, which is when I’ll shower before I leave.
Ever try calling a Goan between 7-8pm? You would have DEFINITELY experienced his/her mother pick up the phone and tell you that your friend is in the shower. Amirite?
So – which side of the divide do you fall on? Comment below and lemme know!
Till next time!
P.S. Please don’t take 2-3 showers a day if you don’t need to! We’re in the midst of a drought, you know!
What I’ve experienced on hearsay from my Goan chicas is another kind of a bathing ritual where the bath is further cleaned down to a ‘headbath’ and a ‘full body bath’ .
Apparently due to hard water or due to the difficulty in drying up those buns, etc many just shower from neck down keeping the grimy nest dry where summer flints can ignite a forest fire. And then with all fanfare comes that one day in the week where our Goan bai decides to get fully wet (no puns intended) going for the celebrated full body bath. There is an evening schedule in the Goan households where it’s rosary time.. But our bai decodes to stealthily skip and into the bathroom slip. This is where one section of the house has their ‘soul full of hoap’ whereas one gushing corner of the house ends up with ‘soap in the houl’!
Author
Lol! This was a hilarious read, I must say 😀
I can vouch for the head bath and full body bath though. We’ve even had them as kids! Two nights of the week were “head bath nights!”
well u r right, i did face this when i went to Pune and later to Mumbai… we i did change things in Pune,,, i made my roommate to have shower at night as well as in the morning…. lucky to have water at both times… but yes its a practice up there to shower in the morning and sleep just by washing your feet… and yuks i cant even have a good sleep if i do that… so best way is to have bath twice.. once to take out your dirt of the day,,,, and morning to start afresh…mind you both are soothing….
Goan here. And I love my night showers. No matter what the workd thinks of me
Author
Haha! Amen to that!
Night showers are the best! Recently shifted to Bangalore and I face the same fate, same questions, same looks.. I’d reply to them with my explanations, but now I must say my explanations will get better
Author
Haha glad to hear that 🙂
I have evidence now to through on the faces of some of my friends…..
I am a night shower-er…..:)
Author
That should silence them 🙂
OMG! I’m so glad you’ve written about this! It is so true… ❤️ I’m tired of explaining the benefits of my night showers to people…
Author
Same here, Neha!
I love my night showers too! We goans have lovely dense hair and that’s why the headbath ritual is reserved for night time as it takes a long time to dry them up!
Author
Possible. I can vouch for the dense hair. But it’s not very lovely 😉
Soooo glad someone wrote this!!!! I looovveee my showers before bedtime. Ill shower before i go out but i have to shower after i come home before bed no matter how late it is (alot of my friends dont get this, however tired drunk sleepy etc. I am i wont sleep without having a shower before i hit those sheets) We had the head bath ,body bath rituals too i still follow it but every alternate day is head bath ( its supposed to be good for the hair apparently).
Author
+1
So true Proud Goan who has bath at night ❤ Gotta show this to my guy(Punjabi)… Looks like I ain’t changing my shower time
Omg this is so true. I didn’t know it was a goan thing! Everyone here in Mumbai or in my college in Pune was so weirded out to find out I bathe at night! It was such a normal thing for me! And logical too! Why would u bathe in the morning when ur gonna get dirty all day??
I have experienced this in university when I had 2 roommates who were from north India!! By the time we were in the 2nd year, they followed my lead on bathing at night . Proud Goenkar!!!
Author
Hehehe Epic!
I am so glad to read this article.. I can relate to it so well.. Thanks jade for putting down the benefits of taking shower at night.. I can remember that whenever I told anyone that I take shower at night, they always gave me a weird looks
Never knew this was a Goan thing. But I love taking a bath at night just before bed.
Solution.. Bathe twice a day as all keratitis do!
Someone finally writes about it! I can’t even sleep at night without a refreshing shower! Everyone seems to have gone through the ‘head bath’ and ‘body bath’ phase when they were young (some of us religiously still do)!
But I must say, I do know a lot of Goans who don’t shower in the night! Some actually prefer morning showers (and yes, it is a head bath). Personally I feel that if you pamper yourself the night before, you are sure to wake up nice and fresh!
Nothing, absolutely nothing beats that late shower time!
Author
Agree completely!
Where does it say, though, that you need to restrict yourself to the one shower a day?
You can’t possibly wake up and go to work without a shower if you work out in the morning.
And going to bed without a shower after a long day in 50 degree heat is a bad idea too.
Author
True, this doesn’t apply for those who workout in the mornings. They need to shower for themselves and for the sake of those around them!
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH yes bang on. 35 years and i’ve not missed a night shower…i cant imagine going on the bed with the days dirt its so yuck yuck yuck…Keep writing…Goan girl!!!
Author
Thanks for dropping by, Christina!
Night showers are essential if you plan on getting dirty in bed rather than getting dirt on bed. You neither wanna taste grime on your partner nor do you want to taste horrible yourself 😉
Author
I’ve noticed a lot of ‘Savio’s having similar comments. Lol I wonder what the connection is!
Im no goan.. but live in mumbai and hell yes.. showered when im back home frm work.. for that matter its not about the night…i worked shifts sometimes.. so had a shower after im back or even if i just went out for over 5 hours n got back its more of the disgusting dirt n pollution and in mumbai ofcourse sweaty armpits on you in public transport..eeww. morning showers only in summer or if thrs too much time.. just short quick showers!
This has been a practice since scholl days… showered in d night before dinner after a while day of school n running and playing in d mud n sweatting like pigs!
Author
This brought back childhood memories of playing in the mud 🙂
True story
So true…I can never understand how one you can go to sleep without a shower, all dirty,sweaty and grimy..I think the Goan Christian Community practices this more religiously (no pun iinteneded) than the other communities.. I have lot of Goan Hindu friends who prefer the morning bath.
This post jst made me so happy n proud of myself! My degree collg frnds used to always make dirty faces n b like how can u nt hv bath in the mornin!! Etc etc.. I used to feel so awkward n think if i ws wrong.. Evn though i used to go like how can u sleep with the world’s dirt on ur body.. Its so unhygenic n all tht… I also mentioned tht i dont hv bath to impress myself but to be hygenic!! Frankly speaking i used to feel gross wen they wud sleep next to me for my college trips.. Even my boyfriends mom n me once had a discussion like how can ppl sleep widout havin a shower! I understand they hv bath to get fresh in the mornings.. Bt wt abt the nitess.. Its soo eww..
Anyway! Thanx Jade Dsa for ur lovely post!! I shared it right away!
Bang on!!! This is exactly what I do and think even.
Shower in the evening is a must for me and yeah sure i give it a miss during morning which given me enough time to sleep as well as get ready for work. Whether I am with room mates or all alone shower for me goes in the late evening itself.
Nice read, I am sure there are a plenty who do and think exactly like this Goan has mentioned, me at the least….
Mangalorean by birth and I shower at night too 😀 No matter how late or unwell I am I need to take a shower before I slip between the sheets at night. Till date I find it hard to understand how can one not take a shower and go to bed.
Author
It really is a mystery, isn’t it?
Really funny, but can’t fault the logic. Didn’t know it was a ‘Goan’ thing, but I shower at the end of the day too.
Ahhhh finally someone with the same thoughts as me on Night Shower. I’m a Mangalorean and how I love my night showers and a sound sleep later. Was treated like a pariah during my hostel days in Mumbai for having a night shower. I’m gon na share this on my wall.
You go girl. Just love you for this article.
Author
Thank you for the comment, share and love, Sarita!!
Pre-bedtime bathing is a Portuguese legacy. People in cold countries, and most of Europe falls in this category, have a hot bath at night to knock off the chill of the outdoors and warm their bodies before getting under the covers. This worked well in the old days when homes were draughty and there were no heaters or thermals to keep you warm at night, when temperatures dip the most. I believe the practice of a nightcap served the same purpose. We Goans inherited this practice, which I follow to this day. But with global temperatures on the rise and Goa becoming so humid and uncomfortable, a cooling early morning shower works wonders, that’s if there’s water flowing in the taps, that is. Otherwise, a good topic to write on.
At last, someone penned down the best thoughts on night baths! My friends froze when they learnt I shower / bathe at night rather than the morn, and looked at me with disgust .. some months and years later they are still my friends and kind of accepted me a weirdo regarding night baths !
I am a confused Gosn and I shower st 12 am
Very hilarious article, ever since I learnt about this morning bath practice from ”who else” – bingtankars, I was absolutely shocked to understand how these mamus (and mamis) could sleep well in the night with all the sweat, dust and grime coated body……
Then I realized that there must be something holy, bharti sanskruti and offcourse some ”auspicious timing” in this equation and left it there…….so do not bother to enlighten them, let them enjoy their morning customary quickie…..
We are goenkars………..civilized.
We stayed in Bombay as youngsters. My brother adapted the Bombay habit of showering in the morning, while I continued showering at night. By the end of the week when the time came to change the sheets, you could see a halo of grime on his sheets while mine remained clean. I rest my case.
Nice write up . I am a Goan man and have always bathed in the night. A few thoughts though
If one bathes in the night , it would better to have a warm bath or atleast use body temp water as this relaxes the muscles and promotes sleep. Inspite of this I have cold water bath 365 days of the year at night
While a morning bath after a workout is most necessary , it should preferably be room temp water ( cold) as this would increase the tonicity of the muscles & skin and perk one up for the day’s work . Warm water bath would be counter productive
I am a goan.
yes, I love my night showers just before I get into bed. that way I know that I am clean and so is my bed. this is my piece of heaven!
many people in india consider sex as dirty. yes, if one does not shower before sex, what can one expect??? dirty Indians!
Much needed article!!…I have faced this way too many times! And I have told people that most Christians take a bath at night. But I don’t want to generalize it.
If everyone takes bath once a day it should ideally be at night becoz you can take a shower and sleep, be in your own house. You are not leaving your house and going out to work or play and get all sweaty and dirty.
These morning showerers who think they are so clean are actually pigs in my opinion. They come every night to sleep in a pigsty. No wonder they feel all dirty and stinky in the morning. They sleep in unclean stinking beds and judge us! That’s the irony! If you think about it most Indians are clean only for 30 minutes i.e. till the time they hit the roads or take the local trains
“Pigs shouldn’t tell humans when to take a bath!” Quote me when people judge u!
Author
Hey Macneil!
I agree, those who shower in the morning are only clean until they leave the house, which is usually in half an hour!