So anyways, now that I had run out of it, the only logical solution seemed to be was to go in search for it. And since I was travelling to Mumbai the next day, I needed it really fast. But of course you don't always get what you want and Murphy's Law struck... My "blackness" personified Revlon was not available anywhere! They were all out of stock... (Hey! Is everyone out there buying it?). And it is 9:30 in the evening with all stores shutting down!
So, out of sheer desperation I go to "Hanuman Stores". It is you know a "kirane ki dukaan" as in a General store selling groceries, cosmetics and the like. I apprehensively go and ask "Bhaiya aap kajal rakhte hain kya" (Bhaiya do you keep kajal). He says yes. Wait! what? did he just say yes? YES? Really? Oh my! My hopes soar and I ask more confidently this time "Kaunse kaunse hai?" (Which ones do you have)? He gives a curt reply "Jai Kajal". WTF! JAI KAJAL. What the hell is that? My soaring hopes dash :( But I am making myself feel better by saying that I can always buy one later...
I leave the store and tell my sister about it and she asks "Jai Kajal?". I say yes, sensing that she has more to say. I am praying for some hope and then she says "You know didi, a friend of mine uses this local kajal, which comes for 7 bucks and it is the black-est kajal I have ever seen." What? Will you please repeat it? What did you just say? All i heard was the "blackest kajal". I want it no
w! I am a sucker for black kajals... The blacker the better. I rush into the store and say with a smile "Bhaiya, woh Jai Kajal hi de do" (Bhaiya, gimme the Jai Kajal that you have). I buy it for 10 bucks.I can't wait to reach home and try it! I am praying to God to be kind and to please bless me so that the blackness of Jai (no racism here!) wins me over. Once home, I hog the mirror, scrub my face. You see I have this weird logic that if your face is scrubbed the kajal looks doubly black (yeah right! whatever!). I take a matchstick and smear it with the kajal and apply it on the inner rim of my lower eye (sorry for the details!). Ok... My first reaction- it smells like camphor! Second reaction- my eyes are feeling a cooling sensation and weird.. Is it the camphor reaction? Third reaction- Dude! It's black. It's the black that God created! It's the exact color that God wanted black to be. It's heavenly! and wait does it have a "wet look" effect? Oh God! Really? Thank you God... Thank You so much for making me find this.
But wait what abo
ut the smell of Camphor? I turn the container and sure enough they have listed Camphor as the first ingredient! I am thinking "If they have so confidently mentioned camphor in the list of ingredients, it couldn't be bad... or could it?" I google it... I type "Camphor Eyes" in the Google search bar and Voila! According to AYURVEDA, camphor cools the eye and relieves traces of stress and strains. I think incredulously "Is it really good for the eye?” I have found what I was looking for, for all these years and that too for 10 friggin bucks! THERE IS A GOD!
