In our life, we happen to encounter with so many incidences,which at the time of occurrence put us in a flabbergasting situation; but after a lapse of time when we use to recall them, it brings a smile on our face. In this world, every one tries to “sell” his product and in doing that, a vendor adopts some tactics. A common tactic is, selling spurious item as genuine by projecting them in a way, as if, they were the first hand product. But when you come to know that you have been fooled by some one, it makes you mad and furious.
The same kind of a funny incidence, I encountered long back about thirty- five years ago. At that period of time I maintained my consultancy office as a novice at the suburb of my foot hill city. That was the time, when white collared people like me, who were not acclimatize to take daily bath, but instead when stepped out from home in daily routine, often applied perfume or good odorous substances heavily to make their presence aromatic and impressive.
To make one’s person aromatic, one had to apply either strong talcum body powder or use English spray perfume or scent. These devices were in vogue and a category of people abundantly used them, But besides these trendy items, there had been in use a precious and harmless conventional aromatic substances for centuries called as Attar. This attar basically were used by people of high stature and wealth, since it cost high. still, to this day it maintains its supremacy over English perfume in our country and categorized as a “decent choice” by elite class.
At that period of time, white collared people also had an inclination for attar and they happened to use it in a “swag,” because of its uniqueness. Though it was always hard to obtain “genuine attar” in the market. In our India, the district Kannauj for centuries , been acknowledged for production of superior quality attar. In fact, as on today, attar and district Kannauj has been synonymous or supplementary for one another.
If you visit almost any shop, that deals in attar sell the vendor proudly claims, his products directly coming from Kannauj. The name of District Kannauj in itself has been a “brand name” for attar. Here comes the application of this brand name being used in vending off the attar by any Tom, dick and Harry. By using the brand name of Kannauj, fake vendors successfully foist on other aromatic products in the name of Kannauj’s attar.
Thirty-five years ago I was a bachelor, having a sustainable income. This income sufficed and prompted me to fulfill my vagrant desires. Indubitably, I too was fond of perfumes and specifically being a shirker in taking daily bath, I badly needed such kind of items. One day I was ensconced in my office alone, a man who was about ten years elder than me, knocked on my office’s entry door. I asked him to step in. By his clothing, he seemed to belong from the Eastern side of my U P province.
He was attired in traditional Indian gent’s Dhoti, over that he wore a full sleeved checkered bush shirt and in feet he put on old fashioned leather shoes, often in vogue in Eastern side but not here. Besides, a colored hanker chief he wrapped round his neck, as if, it was a fashion of his side. In hands he held an old leather bag. This bag was akin to the bag, in old city or in village sides, medical practitioner used to have. I mean a traditional old fashioned leather bag, in which doctor often keeps and carries different sized bottles and small vials of medicines.
No sooner, the stranger stepped in, the entire air of my office got redolent with fragrance of amalgamated aromatic substances. It was so soothing and captivating experience to nerves. I offered him a seat. The stranger introduced himself as an “Attar- Vendor,” who came from district Kannauj to sell off his scented products into my foot hill city. As I told earlier about the renown of district Kannauj being known to every one; besides the road distance of Kannauj from my city was more than six hundred Km. Hence this fact too astonished me, this man had traveled such a long distance to sell the product here.
I initiated conversation with him. First of all, I intended to know from him, he had traveled such a long distance and but natural it cost a good deal of money. Besides, he was to spend money on stay, food and all this had to become cost effective regard the sale of his products. Further I intended to know, whether this small scale attar vending business was so lucrative, despite of all this. The real intention behind all this query was, when I was supposed to purchase something from him, this was going to become so costly to me.
Upon my this query, he narrated an air-tight situational story, that helped quenching all my curiosity. He told, he didn’t come alone. Always they used to come in a group of ten to fifteen men. For this long travel, they always embark on the Train and there also they buy the ticket of cheapest class, i,e. general class compartment. This ticket helped costing them very cheap. In Indian Railway, If you travel a long distance in ordinary class ticket, more a distance you travel, the cost of travel begin to minimize. It was the policy of Indian Railway at that time. What is the present situation, I don’t know. The price of ticket, he mentioned was, if not nominal then quite easily bearable by a common man.
The stay in the city to was not costly. For almost every city of India owned number of charitable inns ( Dharmashala in vernacular,) and on nominal charges as a rent for room, they provide you the facility to stay for consecutive three days. To extend the stay in the city, either their group used to shift to another charitable inn or in the same inn get the room allotted by the name of another member of the group. For meal, in the vicinity of every such charitable inn, so many low cost food kiosks or small restaurants existed there.
Often group found it enough this three days halt in a city to cover the business and after that they used to move to the next nearby district. Simple, coming by train and retreating city by city, doing the business. The story narrated by the “attar- vendor” was fraught with logic and easily digestible. After completion of the story, he asked my permission to showcase his products, that I happily gave. ( End of the Part-1. Cont’d ). Penned by — Vinay Pharasi —–
