I have never believed in accessories when it comes to dressing! My view point is that they are superfluous; 'Excessories'. I feel that as and when we go out of our house, we should be firmly in control of ourselves and our belongings. Accessories contradict that philosophy. An end of a muffler flowing loosely, goggles shuffling between nose and head with no place for the cover that aspires to occupy the prime place that is 'hands', a hat that obstructs the vision. All create a nuisance!
Yes! they do have a purpose. They may protect you from harsh Sun or cold winds or serve as a multipurpose handy tool. They are often used for the style statement that they create but then I have believed that one's inherent persona should have enough style to create the impression that one wants to leave.
They are often expensive to buy and very expensive to loose! If one believes in 'being basic' accessories are a no-no, the expenditure doesn't make sense on the cost-benefit ratio.
However, they are one of most convenient gifts to give. Usually you don't have to bother about fitting, often they fit the budget of gifting, they are easy to carry and designs are broad based and likely to be accepted.
This philosophy has somehow percolated to whole of my family, though my wife is not averse to them and I brought muffler and cap for my wife as a souvenir from my France visit. Both, were liked a lot by her and also lost in their first outing leaving a scar in our memories! Recently, on a trip, while my wife was checking out things at shops in a market, out of nothing better to do, I entered a shop. The shop had an interesting ensemble of accessories. The variety of umbrellas was unmatched. In fact, I had never seen a canopy or a tent umbrella before. Though the term may appear paradoxical but there were '
authentic chinese' umbrellas, one has seen in movies. It caught our fancy! In fact even after buying an umbrella, we kept looking for more. Then my eye caught an array of caps stacked in the center-corner. I persuaded my son to try them. I thought I may get an interesting picture. He tried one and then reluctantly another and then one more. This one a 'Fedora' suddenly seemed to be the best thing that could be on the lad's head. He looked like a complete man. Even he liked it very much, it was like love at first .....try! Then my wife suggested to try more caps and hats that were there but none seemed to be perfect. It is rare that we get a unanimous decision in a flash and we bought the hat. Then in an attempt to get more of similar happiness, we tried such wonderful hats for my daughter. There were 'Katrina' and Deepika hats. They were very pretty but none could give us the satisfaction that the 'Fedora' had given us.
From then on, my son wore it like second skin. In fact, rest of us, would not leave an opportunity to don the hat, if he took it off, which was seldom. It was worn by me, my daughter, my wife, my father-in-law and even my mother-in law. It was an overworked hat. Resting only when all of us slept.
On day 3, it was dusk and the light was getting dim. We were relaxing in an uphill park and then started trying our hands at low-light photography. Then the time for closing of the park was announced and we left. After coming downhill, I realized, there was something strange about my son. He looked different! Oh, his hat was missing! When I asked him about it, he immediately put hand on his head in a reflex. We realized that the hat had been lost. Disappointment and sadness welled up in his eyes. It had happened earlier also. Whenever, we had enjoyed any accessory, we had lost it in that very trip. It was eerie, as if I had almost foreseen it.
'Moh' is said to be an obstacle in achieving Nirvana.
I, as a father, immediately wanted to restore his happiness. I had comprehended that retrieving it back from the park was not possible.
God is said to be great! Voila! We were standing right in the front of
that shop. Without wasting a moment we entered the shop, picked up another similar hat, tried it and yes! It evoked the same stimulus! I pushed the money to the vendor and were out in a jiffy. It was all so quick, that it seemed to heal with first intention i.e. without leaving a scar mark. My son adorned the hat for the rest of the trip.
I shared pictures of the trip with my sister-in-law. She said, 'all of you have clicked pics turn by turn wearing the same hat', '
uski topi iske sar, iski topi uske sar'. I told her, 'that's not true, it's not that we wore hat to click the pictures but because hat was always on somebody's head all the time, it features in all the pictures".
The Fedora Hat was the hero of our trip. Though it was a hat story but far from being
a hate story, it was rather a passionate love story!! Hats off to the hat!
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