Cooling Glass

Thats what I used to call "Sun Glasses" or "Goggles" till I graduated out of college. Thats how alien I am, to the concept of wearing a "kannadi" for non medical purposes. Moreover, I imagine, I'd feel like a person from bomb squad, when i wear the cooling glass and walk into the office with a heavy leather bag, laptop and paraphernalia.

Now in this country where the sun is as unbearable as Bappi Lahiri's new album visuals or simbhu's existence on earth, I am forced to buy a cooling glass.

I took less time deciding about my marriage than I have invested on the decision of choosing my cooling glass, which I have not bought yet.

There are about 5 optical shops (They call it sunglass huts! whatever!) in my part of the city and all of them know me as a person ask complicated questions about the alloy used in the frame and the thickness of the anti reflection coat, but would never buy. With that pretext firmly verified, the svelte european woman (Wife to gloss over this piece of observation as plain academic urge of mine) to our own mallu ungil, in these shops treat me a particularly racist unspoken slur whenever I walk in. But my dilemmas are mine and I would firmly defend them till they are cleared.

-- What are the best brands - Bvlgari? Gucci? Prada? Dior? or would Arnette be a brand too? I realized that there are too many brands that anything that ends with "LI" can qualify to be a high end italian brand..Thinking of buying a cheap frame and printing "Ashwinilli" on it...sounds roberto cavalli or fendi like?

-- I need preseciption sun glasses and that means any brand above wont make sense to me, because the lens are going to be replaced. So why then go for a brand? Just for their name on the frame, which is visible only to a keen observer, who should come very close to the frame? That would mean we both have to compromise the laws of the society (assuming the obvious that the keen interest will always come from a woman)

-- My street corner grocery store sells branded cooling glass look alikes for 100 bucks, when the orginals cost 1000 bucks. I just buy them and change the lens. I can have the cake and eat it too. But that sounds too cheap a thing to do, I guess. Unless some branded sunglass wearing cool dude, endorses the secret movement, that is long underway!

-- Much to my dismay, I went to one of those very same sunglass huts and I realized that they have a deal for Prada (450 bucks) while in actual it costs 1000 bucks. But the prescription costs another 450 bucks!! WTH? And is there a guarantee that these Pradas are not made in china? In fact, the rather unfriendly customer service manager is from China (tells her almost witch like reactions to my bargaining overtures)

-- Then there is another dilemma whether I should buy one in India and keep abusing it coz I anyway cannot maintain such things for nuts or rather go for a laser surgery..

With all these cosmic forces driven dilemmas playing on my mind which again is a microcosm of the cosmos itself..I decide to bargain hunt today again!