“Feel Good” Bath – Mysore Sandal Soap

A “Feel Good” Bath

REFRESHING BATHING and LINGERING FRAGRANCE

Mysore Sandal Soap

By

VIKRAM KARVE

I am feeling good. 

Summer has arrived in Pune. 

It is a sultry hot morning – blazing sun, terrible heat. 

Yet – I am feeling good. 

I am feeling good because I have just had a bath with “Mysore Sandal Soap. 

I feel clean and refreshed. 

I smell very nice and pleasant – with the lingering spicy fragrance of Sandalwood. 

I clearly remember my first tryst with Mysore Sandal Soap. 

Way back in the 1960s – we used to travel twice a year – from the “upcountry” – to Pune – for our vacations. 

Those days – Air Travel was a luxury – and – everyone travelled by the Indian Railways. 

Those days – there were no direct trains from “upcountry” stations to Pune (then known as Poona) – and – we had to travel via Mumbai (then known as Bombay). 

So – we came down from the “upcountry” by famous trains – like the Frontier Mail, the Howrah Mail, the Calcutta Mail or the Punjab Mail – feeling all scruffy and weary – covered with coal dust.

In Mumbai – we got off Dadar in the morning – and went to my grand-aunt’s house in Hindu Colony nearby.

The old-style house had a huge spotlessly clean tiled bathroom – and – it was there that I first discovered “Mysore Sandal Soap”

It was a leisurely relaxed bathing experience – the soothing lather of “Mysore Sandal Soap” softening my skin.

And – I would emerge from my bath – fully refreshed – exuding the tantalizing yet subtle lingering fragrance of sandalwood.

Then – after a sumptuous breakfast – we would board a bus from Dadar TT – or catch a local train from Dadar Station to Mumbai CST (then known as Bombay VT) – spend the day loafing in South Mumbai – window shopping, browsing books, a movie and a meal – and then head to Mumbai CST Railway Station – to catch the Deccan Queen to Pune.

Since then – “Mysore Sandal Soap” is my all time favourite bathing soap – and – I truly enjoy the luxurious bathing experience every morning – and – in the evenings too. 

Being an “old timer” – I prefer the subtle lingering natural fragrance of sandalwood – rather than the overpowering synthetic scent of present day deodorants. 

I believe that it is better to maintain body cleanliness and personal hygiene – which prevents body odour – rather than try to mask your foul body odour by spraying your body copiously with strong smelling deodorants and perfumes. 

A nice soothing bath – skin feeling soft and nourished – feeling clean and refreshed – smelling natural – gently exuding the lingering gentle comforting fresh fragrance of sandalwood  – that is what makes me feel good – rather than the present day practice of profusely deodorizing one’s body – till one reeks of artificial overpowering standardized perfume all day. 

Mysore Sandal Soap celebrated its centenary (100 years) last year.

(Mysore Sandal Soap has been manufactured since 1916 when Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the King of Mysore, set up the Government Soap Factory in Bangalore) 

Here is a picture of the carton of Mysore Sandal Soap. 

I am sure you have tried out “Mysore Sandal Soap”.

No...? 

You haven’t used “Mysore Sandal Soap” yet...?

Then – you must have a bath with “Mysore Sandal Soap” soon. 

Do have a tantalizing bathing experience with “Mysore Sandal Soap” – especially on a hot summer day – and tell us how you liked it.

Morning and evening – on a hot summer day – have a bath with “Mysore Sandal Soap” 

You will smell nice – you will feel clean – and – you will feel “good”.

You can take my word for it. 

Have a nice day...!!! 

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

All Stories in this Blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

This is a revised repost of my article on MYSORE SANDAL SOAP written 12 years ago in 2005 and posted online by me earlier a number of times including at urls: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2010/09/mysore-sandal-soap-lovely-bath.html  and  http://vikramwkarve.blogspot.in/2010/09/tantalizing-bath-and-lingering.html  and http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2012/02/refreshing-bath-and-lingering-fragrance.html  and  https://karvediat.blogspot.in/2013/04/a-feel-good-smell-good-bath.html etc

How to Cook Tasty Food : Taste Mantra

HOW TO COOK TASTY FOOD

TASTE MANTRA

Foodie Musings

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Long back – I had a maid who used to cook quite well.

One day – I invited some colleagues and their families (including my boss and his family) over for dinner – and I decided to ask the maid to cook the food.

Apart from the usual fare of Dal, Rice, Roti and a vegetable dish – I asked to her make chicken curry (which was her “signature dish”).

She used to cook delicious chicken curry for us every Sunday – and we really loved it.

At office – I often boasted about how lucky I was to get a good maid who cooked delicious food – and I especially praised her chicken curry. 

So everyone was quite keen to taste this much hyped inimitable chicken curry.

“These guests are very special – and they especially are looking forward to eating your chicken curry. So make it tasty. Please make the chicken curry really tasty...” I told the maid.

Now – I did not know one thing – the definition of “taste” and “tasty” in my maid’s dictionary.

As far as my maid was concerned – “taste” meant rich (oily) and spicy – and – cooking “tasty” food meant adding “plenty of oil” and “lots of chilly powder”

So – when she cooked the chicken curry – she made sure that she added generous amounts of oil and chilly powder. 

In fact – she had prepared the dish in copious amounts of oil and ensured that the chicken curry was “richly” spiced (especially chilly powder).

The guests arrived.

Everyone was eagerly waiting in anticipation for the chicken curry.

The dish arrived.

The chicken curry looked very appealing and mouthwatering.

Yes – the chicken curry looked sumptuous – succulent pieces of chicken floating in rich opulent gravy.

The moment we started eating the chicken curry – our tongues were instantly on fire. 

Yes – our tongues – our mouths – our whole insides were blazing – and we all broke out into a sweat. 

Never before had we ever tasted a dish so hot and fiery. 

The rich greasy gravy further added to the pungency and imparted a sharp “kick to our tongues.

Everyone kept drinking glass after glass of water to cool down their insides – which had been set on fire by the red-hot chicken curry.

Had it not been for the “bland” vegetable dish and plain Dal – which saved the day – the meal would have been a complete unmitigated disaster.

Next morning – surveying the leftovers – our maid was surprised to see that that there was plenty of chicken curry left over in the fridge – whereas the Dal and Vegetables were wiped out clean.

This was exactly the opposite of what she had expected.

I told her what had happened – and I asked her: “Why did you put so much oil and chilli powder in the chicken curry?”

She said: “Sir – you told me to make the chicken curry tasty. And – how can a dish be tasty unless it is rich and spicy...?”

“But what about the Vegetables and Dal – they were quite okay,” I said.

“You didn’t tell me to make the Vegetables and Dal tasty – so I made them ‘normal’...” she said.

“Okay...” I said to the maid, “From now on please make all the food dishes ‘normal’. Please don’t make anything ‘tasty’...”

Epilogue

A few days ago I ordered Biryani at a local restaurant in Wakad near Pune.

Now – to the best of my knowledge and experience – Biryani is supposed to be mildly spiced.

But the Biryani served to me was so highly spiced – so terribly red-hot – and so copiously greasy – that – it was impossible for me to eat.

So – I called the Manager – and told him not to make the Biryani so spicy and greasy – and that he should tell the cook to put less oil and chilly powder in the Biryani.

Do you know what the Restaurant Manager he said...?

He said: “Sir – how can food be tasty unless you put oil and chillies...? And – most of our customers like “tasty” food...”

I instantly remembered the words of my erstwhile maid.

Well – they were the culinary “experts” – and maybe I am out of sync.

Now – I know the meaning and definition of the terms “taste” and “tasty”:

“Taste” means rich (oily) and spicy – and making food “tasty” means adding plenty of oil and lots of chilli powder.

HAPPY EATING (and Happy Cooking)

May you always enjoy “Tasty” Food

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 
1. If you share this post, please give due credit to the author Vikram Karve
2. Please DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Please DO NOT Cut/Copy/Paste this post
© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Disclaimer:

1. This story is a spoof, satire, pure fiction, just for fun and humor, no offence is meant to anyone, so take it with a pinch of salt and have a laugh.

2.  All stories in this blog are a work of fiction. Events, Places, Settings and Incidents narrated in the stories are a figment of my imagination. The characters do not exist and are purely imaginary. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Copyright Notice:

No part of this Blog may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Blog Author Vikram Karve who holds the copyright.

Copyright © Vikram Karve (all rights reserved)

Revised and Updated version of my Article on TASTY MANTRA earlier posted online by me Vikram Karve in this blog at url: http://karvediat.blogspot.in/2013/01/tasty-mantra-definition-and-meaning-of.html 

TASTY MANTRA - Definition and Meaning of TASTE

TASTY MANTRA

The Definition and Meaning of TASTE and TASTY

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Long back I had a maid who used to cook quite well.

One day I invited some colleagues and their families (including my boss and his family) over for dinner and I decided to ask the maid to cook the food.

Apart from the usual fare of daal, rice, roti and a vegetable dish, I asked to her make chicken curry (which was her “signature dish”).

She cooked delicious chicken curry for us every Sunday and we really loved it.

At office, I often boasted about how lucky I was to get a good maid who cooked delicious food and I especially praised her chicken curry. So everyone was quite keen to taste this much hyped inimitable chicken curry.

“These guests are very special and they especially are looking forward to eating your chicken curry,” I told the maid, “so make it tasty. Please make the chicken curry really tasty.”

Now I did not know one thing – the definition of “taste” and “tasty” in my maid’s dictionary.

As far as my maid was concerned, “taste” meant rich (oily) and spicy and making food “tasty” meant adding plenty of oil and lots of chilly powder.

So when she cooked the chicken curry she made sure that she added generous amounts of oil and chilly powder. In fact, she had prepared the dish in copious amounts of oil and “richly” spiced (especially chilly powder).

The guests arrived.

Everyone was eagerly waiting in anticipation for the chicken curry.

The dish arrived and it looked very appealing and mouthwatering – yes, the chicken curry looked sumptuous, succulent pieces of chicken floating in rich opulent gravy.

The moment we started eating the chicken curry our tongues were instantly on fire. 

Yes, our tongues, our mouths, our whole insides were blazing and we all broke out into a sweat. 

Never before had we ever tasted something so hot and fiery. 

The rich greasy gravy further added to the pungency and the “kick.

Everyone kept drinking glass after glass of water to cool down their insides which had been set on fire by the red-hot chicken curry.

Had it not been for the “bland” vegetable dish and daal, which saved the day, the meal would have been a complete unmitigated disaster.

Next morning, surveying the leftovers, our maid was surprised to see that that there was plenty of chicken curry left over in the fridge, whereas the daal and vegetables were wiped out clean.

This was exactly the opposite of what she had expected.

I told her what had happened and asked her: “why did you put so much oil and chillies in the chicken curry?”

She said, “but you told me to make the chicken curry tasty. And how can a dish be tasty unless it is rich and spicy?”

“But what about the vegetables and daal – they were quite okay,” I said.

“You didn’t tell me to make the vegetables and daal tasty, so I made them normal,” she said.

‘Okay,’ I said, ‘from now on make everything “normal”. Please don’t make anything “tasty”.’

Epilogue

A few days ago I ordered Biryani at a local restaurant in Wakad near Pune.

Now, to the best of my knowledge and experience, Biryani is supposed to be mildly spiced.

But the Biryani served to me was so highly spiced, terribly red-hot and greasy that for me it was impossible for me to eat.

So I called the manager and told him not to make the Biryani so spicy and greasy and that he should tell the cook to put less oil and chilly powder in the Biryani.

Do you know what he said?

He said: “Sir, how can food be tasty unless you put oil and chillies? And most customers like “tasty” food.”

I instantly remembered the words of my erstwhile maid.

Well, they were the culinary “experts” and maybe I am out of sync.

Now I know the meaning and definition of the terms “taste” and “tasty”:

“Taste” means rich (oily) and spicy and making food “tasty” means adding plenty of oil and lots of chilly powder.

HAPPY EATING (and Happy Cooking)

May you always enjoy “Tasty” Food

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2013

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work. 

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

Did you like this foodie story?

I am sure you will like the 27 short stories from my recently published anthology of Short Fiction COCKTAIL
To order your COCKTAIL please click any of the links below:
http://www.flipkart.com/cocktail-vikram-karve-short-stories-book-8191091844?affid=nme
http://www.indiaplaza.in/cocktail-vikram-karve/books/9788191091847.htm
http://www.apkpublishers.com/books/short-stories/cocktail-by-vikram-karve.html

COCKTAIL ebook

If you prefer reading ebooks on Kindle or your ebook reader, please order Cocktail E-book by clicking the links below:
AMAZON
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005MGERZ6
SMASHWORDS
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/87925

Foodie Book:  Appetite for a Stroll
If your are a Foodie you will like my book of Food Adventures APPETITE FOR A STROLL. Do order a copy from FLIPKART:
http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

About Vikram Karve

A creative person with a zest for life, Vikram Karve is a retired Naval Officer turned full time writer and blogger. Educated at IIT Delhi, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, The Lawrence School Lovedale and Bishops School Pune, Vikram has published two books: COCKTAIL a collection of fiction short stories about relationships (2011) and APPETITE FOR A STROLL a book of Foodie Adventures (2008) and is currently working on his novel and a book of vignettes and an anthology of short fiction. An avid blogger, he has written a number of fiction short stories and creative non-fiction articles on a variety of topics including food, travel, philosophy, academics, technology, management, health, pet parenting, teaching stories and self help in magazines and published a large number of professional  and academic research papers in journals and edited in-house journals and magazines for many years, before the advent of blogging. Vikram has taught at a University as a Professor for 15 years and now teaches as a visiting faculty and devotes most of his time to creative writing and blogging. Vikram Karve lives in Pune India with his family and muse - his pet dog Sherry with whom he takes long walks thinking creative thoughts.

Vikram Karve Academic and Creative Writing Journal: http://karvediat.blogspot.com
Professional Profile Vikram Karve: http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve
Vikram Karve Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/vikramkarve
Vikram Karve Creative Writing Blog: http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com/blog/posts.htm
Email: vikramwamankarve@gmail.com

      

© vikram karve., all rights reserved.

PUNE HOME BUYING TIP - AVOID A PROPERTY WITH PIPED LPG GAS

PUNE REAL ESTATE TIPS

AVOID PIPED LPG GAS HOMES 

ARE YOU THINKING OF BUYING A HOUSE IN PUNE

AVOID A PROJECT WITH PIPED GAS

Musings of a Clueless Novice Self-Styled Property Guru Part 17

By

VIKRAM KARVE

In recent times, many builders in Pune offer Piped LPG Cooking Gas Facility in their residential projects.

In the Piped Gas System, or Reticulated LPG System as it is called, domestic cooking gas cylinders are supplied in bulk to the “Gas Bank” of the residential housing colony and consequently to the customer’s kitchen through a pipeline network connected to the cylinder bank in the residential society premises.

This is a much more efficient, economical, safe, reliable, logistically convenient, cost-effective method of supplying cooking gas rather than each apartment having individual gas cylinders, and, most importantly, it saves precious LPG.

Obviously, buying a house in such a residential complex having piped gas costs more since the builder has to set up the infrastructure (gas banks, gas pipelines, safety valves, meters etc) and he is going to pass on the cost to the buyer. In addition, there are annual maintenance costs as well which you will have to pay the society.

I too bought a home in one such project, and I must say that, as compared to having individual cylinders in each house, I found that piped gas is extremely hassle-free and convenient and the system was running efficiently.

So, though one had to pay more for a house in a society with piped gas, at that point of time, it seemed worth it, at least in the long run. 

Hence, most consumers surrendered their earlier LPG connections and opted for the piped gas facility.

Now, due a sudden absurd change in policy by the government and oil companies, these hapless consumers have realized that they made a big mistake by switching over to piped gas.

Why?

Here are some questions and answers:

Q: If there are 300 households in a residential society using LPG Piped Gas, what are the number of Gas Connections?

A: 300

Q: With a cap of 6 subsidized cylinders per connection per year how many subsidized cylinders would the society be entitled per year?

A: 300 X 6 = 1800

You may get bewildered and dumbfounded when I tell you that, as per the government’s bizarre logic, both your answers are wrong.

Here are the “right” answers:

1. The entire housing society comprising 300 households will be treated as One Connection (though basic commonsense says that each household must be treated as one connection and 300 households rightly add up to 300 connections)

2. This means that only 6 subsidized LPG cylinders will be given to 300 consumers (instead of 1800) in one year.

Isn’t this a preposterous policy which defies logic?

Owing to this ridiculous policy, the monthly piped gas bill is going to triple (increase by 300%) since a you cannot avail of subsidized cylinders (yes, your bill will be almost three times your present bill since an unsubsidized cylinder now costs more that Rs. 900 as compared to the earlier cost of Rs. 400).

And now that LPG has been de-controlled, Oil Companies will keep raising the price of LPG frequently and your piped gas bill will soon sky-rocket and become so expensive that it will become unaffordable. 

Thus, sooner of later, you will be forced to discontinue your piped gas and revert back to your earlier individual LPG cylinder system, because if you do that, then you will be entitled to six subsidized cylinders every year. As customers start discontinuing piped gas due to exorbitantly high costs, supplying piped gas will become financially non-viable and this will lead to piped gas companies shutting down.

Instead of encouraging the use of Piped Gas which is safer, economical, logistically efficient and saves precious LPG, it is incomprehensible and baffling why the government is taking the retrograde step of forcing consumers to go back to individual cylinders.

Leave aside the efficiency, safety and convenience aspects of piped gas but just look at the wastage of time, money, effort and fuel involved in servicing individual LPG cylinders as compared to piped gas.

Instead of the gas truck coming just once a week to replenish the gas bank, the gas truck will now have to come almost every day to supply individual refill cylinders to each of the 300 households.

And, going by news reports, in the city of Pune alone, this wastage is going to replicated in over 350 residential societies which have piped gas systems.

(With each residential society having 200 – 300 households on the average, just imagine the colossal waste of diesel fuel, increase in pollution and traffic due to increased vehicular movement of gas trucks, avoidable increase in consumption of scarce LPG, compromise in safety, inconvenience to the customer and unnecessary burden of logistic effort to the distributor)

What a colossal waste due to a ludicrous decision by some incompetent “babu” sitting faraway in Delhi.

Bureaucracies tend to be stubborn and are averse to changing their decisions, however specious, absurd and illogical those decisions may be.

So you can forget about better sense prevailing on the government and oil companies.

In the circumstances, what can you do?

Simple.

Just avoid buying a house in a project fitted with a piped gas system.

Why pay extra for something you are never going to use?

Dear Reader: Do you agree? Please comment - I look forward to your views and feedback.