One has never seen the like of him in the fledgling city of Chandigarh. It was in 1961, at the city’s lone Kiran Cinema that one made a new on-screen friend, a ‘Kabuliwala’ named Rehmat. Not just phantom perfumes, the chant ‘Kabuliwala aaya pista badam laaya’ also rings in the ears. A poster of Rabindranath Tagore’s Kabuliwala. Strange that remembrance and fragrance should return at a time when both Afghan Snow and Afghanistan that inspired its name are struggling for survival. She too expressed concern for the Afghan women and children with the US beating a hasty retreat leaving the country in ravage and fear. Actor Tisca Chopra, who spent a portion of her youth in Kabul, where her father was the principal of a school says one of her most vivid memories was waking up to four feet of snow on the hill that was home to them.

Indeed, snow in Afghanistan is a sight to behold. He asked the king if he could name it Afghan Snow and permission was generously granted. The brand had also sponsored early Miss India contests and leading yesteryear star Devika Rani lent her face for its promotion.Īs the story goes, the Afghan king Mohammed Zahir Shah had visited united India in 1919 and a young Indian entrepreneur presented him a hamper of cosmetics, the pearly white cream included. The Afghan Snow was a part of most Indian homes until the 70s. Suddenly, the forgotten cosmetic, hailed as India’s first cream when it made its way into the market in 1919, returned to memory with its gentle fragrance in times when fear looms large on the country that inspired its name. The rotund jar contained a magical cream, cheekily named Afghan Snow. A round glass jar embossed with a pretty woman’s face and topped with a pink lid occupied a precious corner in mother’s cupboard along with a tiny blue bottle of ‘Evening In Paris’ and containers of kumkum.

Writers names of aye watan pyare watan