Thursday, November 12, 2009

As the days get shorter, and it gets tougher to get out of bed in the cold winter mornings, nostalgia seems to be the order of the day.

Winter has always been associated in the colder countries as an end to the beautiful season of summer. The cold winds drive away the warmth of the summer.

In India, predominantly tropical, winter has always been a solace from the heat of summer, the dampness of the monsoon. But this winter somehow finds me in a much more nostalgic mood than usual. I have always loved winter. Mumbai kids usually do. In Mumbai, winter brings with it a refreshing change from the year-round humidity. For about a month or month-and-a-half stretching across December and January, you enjoy the coolness of the breeze, and the very slight chill of the late nights. In Bangalore, of course, winters are a bit more severe and the weather all round the year can get a bit chilly everytime it rains.

Last weekend I went down to the supermarket with my son, my little helper :), to pick up the groceries from a list already provided. When buying soap, I looked down the aisle and picked up one of the soaps which used to be a symbol of the winters of my childhood! Pears transparent soaps ! Living in Mumbai, you tend to perhaps not use any of the moisturizing kind of soaps, unless its winter! And Pears used to really come into my house only in the winters. In the early 80's, I dont think there were that many options anyway, and perhaps Pears was the only available "moisturizing" soap of the time. Wikipedia tells me that Pears soaps have been in production since 1789! Thats one amazing business model!

So anyway, I picked it up again this time. And I realized again after using it, what a gorgeous fragrance this soap has! I mean, I never imagined I will ever wax eloquent about soap, but it really is worth mentioning! And everytime that fragrance hits me, it just seems to remind me of home, of those carefree days as a child. When everything was worked out by someone else, everything was made available without having to struggle for it. When life was simpler, perhaps.

Whenever I am reminded of my own childhood, I also wish that I had been a much better kid than I was, especially in the teens! I also hope fervently that my son takes more on his mom than me in that department! Parents truly are marvellous creations!

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