HIS CIRCUMCISION...

Have you ever been circumcised, cut yours to manhood? Was it painful? Here is what “tuli” means.
TULI OR BINYAGAN is a minor surgery that entails the cutting of the foreskin of the male genitalia. This act is considered a rite of passage from boyhood to manhood. Aside from being a symbol of virility, it may also signify a man’s formal assumption of his roles as a male member of society.
Here is a story about a boy who has been circumcised in a probinsya way.
Hey, guys tuli naba kayo? What cut yours to manhood? Scissors? A knife cut mine. It was many years back after my graduation from elememtary. I dulled the summer away with my grandparents.
One sunny Sunday morning Lolo peeped into the bathroom. He changd inside to scrub my back with pumice. He could not resist but laugh when he learned that still I had my “foreskin” intact.
After breakfast, I tagged along with him to the nearest manunuli. Lolo asked me to wear an oversized T-shirt that flaunted down to my knees.
“Remove your shorts,” the manunuli commanded. Lolo pulled my shorts down slowly. He tiptoed to hang it on the lowest branch of a nearby tree.
“Brief,” he ordered.
I stared at him blankly. He chewed a couple of guava leaves.
“Now remove your brief,” he said impatiently.
“Manong, I’m not wearing any brief,” I mumbled. Then, kneel,” he said softly.
I saw a guava stick in front of me. It was scraped smoothly. Beside it was a newly sharpened knife that shimmered under the sun.
“What is that for?” I asked innocently, looking at the knife, and still standing straight as a statue. He did not answer my question, but instead commanded me to kneel down.
A hand tapped me at the back. I knew it was Lolo who stood behind me.
I knelt down, tilting up my head and surrendering myself to an expert hand. The poundings had started. “One, two, ouch!” I stopped counting. The knife cut through my skin. I could feel it, even if I still had my head tilted upward. After a while, I heard the manunuli spit out the guava leaves over the wound.
Blood gushed out from the wound and despite my helpless state, I gathered enough courage to stare at my new appendage-like a war-weary soldier holding on to his beloved daughter’s photograph in the face of death.
I did not move. I did not stand. I just knelt. “Are you alright?” Lolo tapped me on the shoulder.
I did not answer. I was on deep thought of what had become on me. A lot of matters crossed my mind-girls, ladies, and a wife.
I pushed away my Lolo’s hand from my shoulder. What does Lolo think of me? I rhetorically asked myself. Bata! After all, I had just been through the rite of passage into manhood.
Having been “tuli” is good because it cleans yours by getting the foreskin and keeps you away from diseases. But is it okay for you, wearing loose shirt and when touched by something or somebody, is very painful?