Sunday, April 27, 2008

Music to my ear(ring)s

So Clueless examines my earring collection and asks me, "Hmmm... how many pairs of earrings do you think you have?"

"Uhh... I don't know... 50-60 pairs maybe?" I hazard a guess.

Interesting question, I thought to myself. I never really sat down to count them. The reason was that if you looked into my earring boxes, you'd be most likely to find ELORE, which sounds like a pretentious brand of ridiculously expensive earrings, but actually stands for 'Enormous Lump Of Random Earrings'. To find out how many there were, I'd need to separate them, and then pair them, and then count them. Let's just say that task looked like something I should set aside to do after retirement.

I plead guilty. I have a terrible weakness for earrings. Especially the kind you get on the streets - not only are they dirt-cheap, you can get them in virtually every colour to match with every single one of your clothes. Once I bought a pair of green earrings for Rs. 7 from a roadside stall in Delhi and because none of my clothes went with it, bought a 3000-rupee green churidaar kameez. I am proud to say that I do not indulge in such idiotic behaviour anymore, and have actually reversed the buying process. However, even though I do buy them at a higher frequency than I buy shoes, the large mass has accumulated due to the kindness of my friends and a rather generous sister who figured that unlike shoes, size doesn't matter when it comes to buying earrings for me (it's true) and contributed to my ELORE collection with open hearts.

Going back to Clueless' question, I only discovered why she asked me that when I saw this exquisite, self-designed, handcrafted earring holder. I was and still am completely bowled over by the beauty and practicality of this gift. That fact that it is handmade just adds to the charm.






































So I brought forward the post-retirement event. It took me almost two weeks to organise and arrange all the pairs, and every now and then just for kicks I'd call up people and ask them how many they thought I had. (Viv: "Err... about 40 pairs?" Mom: "You're mad. I'm sure you have like 50 pairs!" Sis: "50-60 pairs?")

Today I completed the task and counted. I will not tell you how many there are, but I do believe 113 pairs is not a small number.

Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the featured artists of the month at the bar - the very talented and creative Clueless and Machogirl, and their unbelievable creation.



36 comments:

aequo animo said...

Gold!!!.. , ironically for things not gold :D

Stone said...

my wifey too have same disorder...oops I mean..that fantastic/amazing knack for collecting ear rings.

Macho Girl said...

You liked the gift! Yay!!!! :D :D :D

113???????????!!!!!!!!!! OMG!!! We tried to estimate how many pairs u'd have and designed a stand for about 60 pairs (i think). And here I was thinking there'd be extra space for more even after you arranged everything! :O :O I guess its a good thing clueless didn't buy a few more pairs the way she was planning to :P :P

Sanchit said...

113 ????
OMG....

Shekhar said...

~laughs~ AWESOME !!!!!

Yeah, I know the joy of properly putting one's collection into order... I keep doing that regularly with my books. :D

manju said...

//Mom: "You're mad. I'm sure you have like 50 pairs!"//

You surely are ;o)

V said...

Unrelated:

Just noticed you have put me up in the blogroll...thanks so much! :-)

Sayesha said...

#aequo animo,
Hehe... yeah man, gold jewellery suck! :S

#Stone,
//my wifey too have same disorder...

Ack! I'm offended on her behalf too! :P :P

#Macho Girl,
I LOVE it! :D :D :D :D :D

//We tried to estimate how many pairs u'd have and designed a stand for about 60 pairs (i think).

Yup! I used the sari wala safety pin to make additional holes for the others. :D

//And here I was thinking there'd be extra space for more even after you arranged everything! :O :O

Hahahaha! It's pretty crammed right now! :P But I LOVE IT! :D :D :D

#Sanchit,
Yessssssss! :P

#Shekhar,
Totally agree... and when you have assistance from outside, the task becomes so much easier and fun too! :D

#Manju,
:P :P :P

#V,
It's been there for a while. :)

Urv said...

Bhai, lagta hai ek din aayega jab aap bologe 'Ha! jitni body mein haddi hoti hai usse zyaada to mere paas earring hai' :)

Thisisme said...

wow..thats great...btw can i b ur partner in this crime :D i think i do owe easily 60-70 pairs and yeah...i have kept them in a handbag...and they are in a ELORE condition :D i jst untangle the one i need :D:D and the gift is tooo good :DDD..i wish some1 cud make that for me too :-)

Unknown said...

that is so cool! what is it made out of? i would love to make one for my sis. i need a mini-version of it too. i have always complained that there's no easy way to keep earrings from becoming an 'ELORE'. ..

Kanan said...

Awww c'mon Sayesha, 113 is nothing. Is it? :D I bet you'd beat yourself in no time at all. I know I do all the time. ;)

Archana said...

Ooooh - my sister gifted me a earring holder for my bday this year and I really wondered how I was going to fill it all. I topped off at 80 pairs and there are 3 pairs of empty slots left on the holder.

The earring holder is an awesome creation!

p.s. I shall strive to beat your record :-P!

soleil said...

COOL!!! I'm gonna ask Clueless and MG to make me one of those stands too! Now I keep my earrings in a round-shaped metal box and every time I want to look for a pair, I pour everything out on my bed and the search begins... I've seen those expensive metal earring stands in shops but never got to buying one cos I don't have THAT many earrings. Not yet at least :p

mythalez said...

hmm .. get 365 of them and graduate from 'ear-rings' to 'year-rings'

Since i couldnt come up with a better comment, i shall run away!
Before the newspaper comes along this way !! :P

Sayesha said...

#Urv,
Muahahaha! When I live in my own house, I will try that strategy with shoes. Muahahaha! :D

#Thisisme,
Hehehehe! I think Clueless and MachoGirl could set up a small business here on my blog! ;)

#Ipanema Girl,
It's some kind of soft plastic cut into strips and made into a frame held together by red tack.

#Kanan,
Holy cow no! I am SO refraining from buying anymore till some of these are rendered unusable. :P Meanwhile, I will just satisfy my buying urge by buying for other people! Muahahaha! :D

#Archana,
//p.s. I shall strive to beat your record :-P!

Hehehe... should be easy enough 'cos I ain't buyin' no more, sistah! :P

#Soleil,
Ask them quick before they read the comments here and start charging for this! :P

//I've seen those expensive metal earring stands in shops but never got to buying one cos I don't have THAT many earrings.

Yeah I saw that too. Frickin' expensive and not enough for all my pairs. At least with this one, you can bore extra holes. They had bored holes for about 60 pairs, I bored the other 53! :P

#Mythalez,
//hmm .. get 365 of them

Naah, I plan to do that with my shoes... but first I need to get really rich! :D

//Before the newspaper comes along this way !! :P

Hehehehe! No thwack for you this time! :D

Sudipta Chatterjee said...

113 Pairs?!!!!

You might want to set up an exhibition :)

Angelsera said...

hahaha...I beat u to the number of earrings I own..I counted them recently while I was packing and
I have

*drumrolls*...

127 pairs

and about 20 odd singles (where one earring is missing)

:D

I badly need an earring stand too!

Macho Girl said...

Something went wrong with blogger and i don't know if this comment got published so here it is again :P

@ soleil and sayesha

Too late! I've already read the comments! We gave one for Arushi's birthday. But from now on, we are charging people! :P :P

P.S. We also specialize in pen stands, greeting cards, lanterns, misc room decoration stuff and paper flowers of various kinds (except gerbera :( )! Contact MG/clueless to place your orders... TODAY! First 50 orders will receive a paper windmill absolutely free! :P :P :P

*ducks to avoid the rolled up newspapers and shoes*

Sayesha said...

#Sudipta,
Hehehe... I already 'exhibited' them at the bar! :P

#Angelsera,
Hahaha! I will not try to beat you as I am going to focus on shoes from now on.

//and about 20 odd singles (where one earring is missing)

I threw the singles out man... high time... :P And I did not include the sets in the count - those that have a necklace and other jhing-bang with it... thankfully they have their own dabbas, this thing can't take any more load! :p

#Macho Girl,
SHEESH! No google-type adsense nonsense ads in my bar! Take your wares outside and set up your shop a la Phoebe and play the violin and veena. Hahahaha! *inside joke* :P

*Takes rolled-up newspaper and chases the pamphlet-distributing Clueless and Macho Girl out*

Anonymous said...

113 OMG! I feel ashamed Sash bhai. Really. I'll start collecting more now!!!
:D
I couldn't actually see the pic as it didn't show up. I'm still guessing how the thing must be designed.

Unknown said...

Wow! a little imelda marcos in the making! :P

bellydancer said...

Cool :) These stands really do come in handy don't they. I like to give mine a spin every morning and choose which earrings I want to wear each day... its so fun!!

Unknown said...

Really a good collection.

Sayesha said...

#Lively,
Hehehehe! :P
ps: Why can't you view the pic?? That's the best part! :O

#Reghu,
Hehehe! :P

#Bellydancer,
Yeah man! This makes getting ready for office so much fun! :D

#Prathiba,
Thank you! :)

Anusha said...

Oh, YAY! I'm SO glad you enjoyed the gift - Macho and I really couldn't think of anything more appropriate! I was apprehensive at first because it seems like all I've been giving you for the past two years have been jewellery gifts, but it was so worth it this time! :D :D :D

And let me just make it here - this was completely MG's brain-child. I just sat and helped make the thing, but she's the one who comes up with the brainy ideas. That girl can make anything out of anything, I tell ya! :)

Again, SO glad you enjoyed the gift! >:D<

anshuj said...

If I remember correctly, Clueless is your sis-in-law. Now thats one hell of a sis-in-law :D. You lucky girl!

Nova said...

Oh Man!!!

Girl, I am so so jealous!!!! :PPP

I had some 30-40 odd earrings myself and I kind of lost them all... :( Yeah I did :(((((((((((((((((

Gosh! this post opened up harsh wounds :((

Sniff Sniff! :(

Nova said...

Hey you have to tell me where you got that gorgeous earring stand from??

realistic dreamer said...

113! OMG!.. iam wearing the same earring for the past 7 yrs! :O.. coz iam a bit hyper abt putting things there!.. now strangely after looking at this iam feeling maybe i shld let go off my fear and try a few on!.. lol! :D btw how i would love to have a closer look at ur collection!

Nidhi said...

Sayesha
Ur posts normally make my day...they r fun to read...but this time I say it with a broken heart that the effect of ur post has just been the opposite.
Am a big fan of earrings too...and know what...after reading ur post...i counted mine (like so many others here)...and there r only "24" pairs :'( :'(

relativelyrain said...

Hmmm, your earring stand is a strong influence on me to get my own. :)

Din know you had so many pairs!!! :p

Unknown said...

Awesome contraption....Uhhhhm,do your friends deliver to Malaysia? :)

Girl With Big Eyes said...

That thing is going to the top of my wishlist and I am gonna send a link of this post to all my friends!

Hope someone gets the drift!

starbreez said...

That is an amazing piece of work.

I hope the pair I gave you found a place on it!

Arun said...

God, I wish I knew you, you're so easy to buy presents for :)