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.