Operation Barbarossa - 4

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Barbers were exalted professionals during the middle ages. Apart from cooks in the kitchen they were the only ones who could wield a knife expertly.

So they were the 'surgeons' of mankind and animal-kind.

Indeed the word 'surgeon' comes from 'chirurgeon' which meant 'barber'.

But the problem was that, like the kitchen knives, barbers' knives came with their handles along their blades. This suited them eminently to shave or cut some others' hairs or wounds.

But what about when they themselves needed a shave? They had to go to other barbers (like surgeons)...a symbiotic existence.

Then came the 'safety razor', one of the most ingenious inventions of mankind. This enabled one to shave one's own beard, not depending on the temperamental barbers every other day. During the First World War the safety razor grew immensely popular (for obvious reasons) among the soldiers lodged in their perennial bunkers. 

And they were mass-produced by Gillette. 

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Obiter Dictum (on temperamental barbers):

One day a poor South Indian Brahmin widow was waiting and waiting for her barber to arrive. He didn't. And she couldn't very well go out (there were no saloons then).

And she gets vexed and thinks:

"If only my husband were alive, he would have fetched a barber pronto"...and smiles within herself :)

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The beauty of Gillette's safety razor is that its handle came perpendicular to its blade, instead of along it.

That safety razor was the next implement to emerge from my father's LG Hing Shaving Kit.

It was of course named the 7 O'clock Brand of Gillette.

Gandhiji (and with good reason, Tagore) never bothered to encourage a Swadeshi razor.

Tagore left his beard to fend for itself instead of depending on barbers.

And I guess Gandhiji (with his caste-consciousness) encouraged poor barbers to visit him regularly and get their trade secured.

Not only Gillette's razors but their blades too came in the 7 O'clock Brand.

I often wondered why 7 O'clock ?

I guess because offices started at 10 O'clock and clerks had to get ready having their lazy ablutions and prayers and food in time to commute to their offices in the Writers Building in Dalhousie Square by walk or shared buggies.

But at IIT KGP, in 1965, our classes started sharp at 7.30 AM. 

And we had to start shaving at 6 O'clock so that our students didn't have an excuse for what were popularly called 'mass cuts'.

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Perhaps this was the reason why Gillette came up with their brand-new brand of blades: "Wilkinson Sword"

Sword!

That made us feel brave and we bought them by the dozen.

It was much later that a typical Swadeshi-named blade appeared in our markets:

"Ashoka"

I don't know if it was a subsidiary of Gillette though...ours was then a license-raj...or even a franchisee (a term I learned lately).

And then we heard of this thoroughly Swadesh name: 'Malhotra'...these Punjabis are next only to Bengalis.

But then Gillette overcame them all coming up with "Disposable Razors"

And I guess there is no looking back...our civilization turned: "Use & Throw" (like condoms).

And I bought them by the dozen (razors).

Recently they came up with "Satin Care for Women" twin-blade.

I just loved it...my skin being tenderer than any woman's.

The latest in the market to which I switched over is the triple-blade:

"Simply Venus for Women" 

of P&G ( I guess it is Procter & Gamble)

We are now in a Globalized Village (back to Nehruji the dreamer).

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To be Continued

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