The Toothpaste Story

No, I am not talking about the toothpaste history, its ingredients or how its going to protect our teeth. Just some observations that I want to share.
Our pearly white, off-white teeth could be attributed to the different variant of toothpastes available in the market today. Surely customer is the king.
There are toothpastes available to cater depending on individuals oral health. Also based on their age and tastes.
The early toothpaste was invented by Egyptians as early as 3000-3500 BC. Many people in India still use home-made mixtures to clean their teeth - the ingredients range from ash, salt, mud, neem twigs...
About two decades ago, there were mainly 2 prominent brands in India. The earlier toothpaste would come in an aluminum tube, hard to squeeze out. It offered no flavours as we have today.
They started by introducing different colors to the boring white toothpaste later which came in easily squeezable plastic tube. I as a child no longer had to run to my dad to help me squeeze out the paste.

The 90s saw a lot of potential in the oral health market in India.. The market has improved, we see mouth wash, gels, teeth whiteners....You name it and we have it - Salt, Calcium fortified, Herbal, Gels, Flavours targeted for children - fruit flavour, mint, spearmint, peppermint, vanilla, chocolate, animation characters....Toothpastes specific to fight plaque, tartar, fight against cavity, for long lasting fresh breath, for tooth whitening. Each one have their own marketing strategy with an enticing name and a fitting tag line - "Cool blue", Tingly Red", Icy Blast", Oxy rich"..... .
Toothpastes also come with sparkling granular ingredients and few of them are stipred toothpaste which has more than one colored toothpaste.
The boring white paste now comes as a treat to your sleepy eyes with all its colors and tiny sparkling bits of ingredients.

The product which occupied just about 2 shelves in our neighborhood store now occupies an entire section in our super market and it is indeed tough choosing one of them..

I was curious to read the history of the toothpaste. I found a site which also had few interesting facts
http://www.toothpasteworld.com/history.htm
http://www.toothpasteworld.com/facts.htm

The Performer

I am back from my recent trip to Chennai. What I envy about Chennai is its Sea, I miss that in Bangalore. I love the majestic blue water that stretches till the end of the world, touching the sky; the lovely feeling when the pearly wave that crashes my feet as I walk along the waves.
The serene effect that it instills in me and the happiness that I experience out of it.....
As every time, this time too I walked from one popular beach to another one, about 4-5 km, taking in the smell of the sea, the waves, the blue water..the grainy stretch of sand, the distant ship, the clear blue sky with silvery streaks...the people...the cool breeze..oh yes the wooden fishing boats, couples coo chi-cooing, talking sweet-nothings holding hands.....
I took a break and found a wooden boat to sit for some time...It was refreshing to watch the sea, the waves. A street performer came by to make some bucks with his monkey.
The monkey was dressed in a cute red shimmering skirt and a blouse to match. It looked feeble, scared, all it knew was to perform some acts as its owner instructed.
The monkey was tied with a thin iron wire to its neck...he held it tight like a baby, its eyes earnest, as if it had lots and lots to speak, and was searching for a soul who could understand him.

The performer started uttering some verse in a sing-song manner when the monkey started jumping up and down, performing some cute somersaults, its skirt flying... the performer then instructed the monkey to salute, which he did it...I shook hand with the monkey...it was pretty petrified as I held its hand for quite some time...
The performer was happy as i slipped some coins in his hand, the monkey clueless about the happenings, all he knew was his owner was happy. And I continued to walk along the waves.......