Quid Pro Quo With The Gods

On Masonry

I am intrigued by this Masonry. I have to read about it. Will get back on this. But the predominance of "Hairam" is noteworthy in the rise of the Masonry cult. I will surely read about it and get back.

 

On Scent

Did that scent emanate from perfumed tale or perfumed musings?

When I travel via Dubai, I prefer a leisure transit to stroll the duty free. Dubai is my favourite airport hangout. I can spend a week in that airport and still marvel like a hick at the exotic collection of perfumes and silk. Re: perfumes, I also love those gold plated and damascene inlay work on those perfume bottles. They come in style! I don't purchase anything but I love to read those labels and infusions. I never spend time in electronic stores at the airport. I am drawn to arts and crafts.

I spent a season in Middle East (ME) on a work assignment during my youngish times. My favourite past time during the weekends was exploring those souks (markets). I had a fascination for rugs and carpets at that time. You won't find many women in quaint souks. The men fielding those shops would pride so much in mixed Arabic and English about their wares. I love when people talk with passion and excitement. I like people to talk about themselves and their ongoing pursuits and their joie de vivre. Also, exhibitions! I used to love them. In exhibitions, I used to explore the glassware. I never bought anything because I prefer a spartan house. I don't like to clutter my place. Nevertheless, I was drawn to the labour and design behind those artistic vases. Back to scent, the Arabic scent is intoxicating.

Once a friend saw my laptop and screamed - 'there must be an insect colony feeding in the catacombs of your gadget'. It already smells sweet with shrivelled and sugary crumbs from buns and puddings and pies lodged in the keypad. The smell is enriched now with the Arabic waft.

 

On Chocolate and Soap

As a kid, my favourite chocolate bar was Amul chocolate. I used to love that chunky bar. I think it was priced at ₹15. Pricey as other similar chocolates were available at five and ten rupees. I would reserve my precious choco bar in the fridge and nibble at it for a week. I would break and eat a chunk a day. A small chunk and I would feel jubilant as if I had swallowed a vat of honey.

Today, these chocolate bars have evolved into cultural memes to signify celebration, family reunions, love, spirit, liberation whatnot. Diary Milk has milked this sentiment like no other chocolate. Moreover, today they don't come in palm-sized bars, they are manufactured in sizes of a granite or marble slab. They should be baptized as chocolate tiles or chocolate slabs and not chocolates bars. If I bought one today, and eked on it with the moderation of my childhood, it would last a year. Surprisingly, I still love sweet desserts but I lost interest in sweet chocolates. I don't relish chocolates any more. Have you noticed, when you are strapped to purchase, you crave for the taste but when you can afford, you are disenchanted of it. I outgrew that taste because today I prefer softer texture on my gums, like gateaux, but believe it or not other finicky patrons outgrew that taste due to shape.

Your wife is resourceful. In the past, why did you want to throw away the soap?

Our temperaments mellow with age. But how did you grow sympathetic to depleted soap? Recall the time I admitted that I used to carry different lotions for different parts of the body. Today, I have one dabba of moisturiser for all my cosmetic needs. I don't know whether that lotion can be applied on face, hands, legs and tummy but I slather it everywhere in one swoop. Such uncouth grooming was unthinkable in my younger days.

 

On hair

Interesting article.

One is Remy hair (the highest grade of human hair, a preferred choice for hairpieces and wigs because it creates a natural look) collected from temples where pilgrims tonsure their hair as part of a religious vow. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) is where the most such tonsuring happens. The temple authorities classify it and sell it on the basis of global tenders through the Metal Scrap Trading Corporation, earning 300-400 rupees core a year, according to industry sources.

The second kind is non-Remy hair-household waste collected by gypsy groups or nomads from villages, who sell it to dealers in hair, who in turn sell it to hair export firms. The latter process it, make it reusable and export it to the West, where it is used to make wigs and hairpieces. Several lakhs of people work in the collection, stocking, and processing of hair.

Wonder why the quality of remy-hair collected from temple tonsures is of high grade and non-remy gypsy hair is inferior? Do you see any reason? I am marking this up for our investigation. Is tonsured hair well-cared and gypsy hair wild?

 

Once upon a time, in an invisible land teeming with fervor, imagination and inverted sense, lived a funny bearded man in a castle. He called his abode a senile den and identified himself as a rambler. Not so long ago, he heard a knock on his door.

“Who's that?”

“A scribbler.”

“A what?”

“I was told that a rambler lives here.”

“Yes, I am that rambler I know no scribbler or any of your tribe.”

“You are one of your kind, I too am one of my kind.”

“What do you do?”

“I am yet to find out.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Teach me how to ramble.”

“How am I to benefit?”

“I will teach you how to scribble.”

Thus, began their madcap journey to discover a world unlocked and unbound.