A Rose Will Smell As Sweet Sniffed By Any Nose

In my last post, i had quoted Shakespeare’s Juliet as saying that a rose would smell as sweet in any name.

The fragrance of rose can be enjoyed only with nose. And talking of Shakespeare, rose and nose, one’s mind travels to Cleopatra’s nose. It is said that had Cleopatra’s nose been a little shorter, world history would have been different. It was her long sharp nose which was the high point of her beautiful face for which princes fell. Faces are known to launch a thousand ships, but here, a part, albeit a small part of the face had triggered a thousand battles!

Why did God give the human nose the shape it has? If the nose is meant for use as the breathing organ, are two nostrils essential for this function? One single nose-hole, like the mouth, may be a smaller one, would have done the job! But imagine the face of a beautiful woman with a nose-hole! How would it have looked? Perhaps God had foreseen that nostrils would be used by Indian women to wear nose-rings! Try to visualize Sania Mirza without her trade mark nose-ring! It sits cutely on her pretty nose!

The Dictionary defines nose-ring also as ‘ a ring in the septum of the nose for controlling a bull or swine’! Ironically, while wives sport nose-rings, it is the husbands who are ‘led by the nose’! God made ear-lobes for ear rings but did He really make nostrils for nose-rings? The nostrils perhaps act like silencer-pipes of bikes, reducing the noise of sneeze!

There is the story of the lady with the nose-ring. She was the pretty daughter of a man with moderate means. Each of the eligible bachelors of the village asked for her hand. Her father had only one condition. He would give his daughter in marriage to the young man who would give her a gold nose-ring. The village was not a prosperous one. Only one of the young men could manage a small nose-ring. He was the winner, just like Arjuna had won Draupadi by winning in the Archery Test. The girl brought good luck to him. Soon after the marriage, his business and income grew. The steady increase in his earnings was reflected, in direct proportion, to the size of the nose-rings that he presented her, one after another! Her happiness increased in the same proportion. But then came the optimum point. Her next nose-ring was a little heavier than that suited her comfort but she wore it with fortitude lest her husband’s happiness would be reduced. When the next and still heavier ring came, she hesitantly told him her problem but he insisted that her nose-ring reflected his status in the village! (What kind of a husband!) The ever-obedient and docile Sita that she was, she gave in. After a time, a little blood oozed out of her nostril but she hid it from him. The next nose-ring was the final blow; her nostril got torn apart and the nose-ring fell off.

In the Ramayana, Lakshman cuts off the nose of Suparnakha, the sister of Ravana when after trying to seduce Ram, she tries her luck on Lakshman. Since her beautiful nose was an enhancing factor in her pretty face, Lakhman put an end to it so that with a disfigured face she would not be able to entice any other male.   

An eligible bachelor must train his nose to discern subtle differences while choosing his bride. His nose must be able to tell a Padmagandha ( a lady whose body gives out the fragrance of lotus flowers) and a Kasturigandha ( a lass with the fragrance of musk) from a Matsyagandha (a woman who smells like fish) . And he must be able to know this without having to rub his nose on her! Males are forewarned that women dislike body-odour. The French are known to be the highest users of perfume; yet French males are said to find body-odour appealing! Napoleon, while returning from his campaign in Egypt, is reported to have sent to Josephine a message saying, “Don’t wash; I am coming.”

Leadership requires an eye for detail and an ear to the ground. And a nose for? For smelling the trouble ahead! The principle of justice in the medieval age was ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘a tooth for a tooth’. Why was there no ‘nose for a bloody nose’?

Nose has contributed not a little to English language. One ‘cuts one’s nose to spite one’s face’, some have to ‘pay through their nose’, and some walk with ‘their noses in the air’! A ‘nosey Parker’ pokes his nose into other people’s affairs. For going strait, one follows one’s nose. ‘Keeping one’s nose clean’ is to keep out of trouble. A not-so-vigilant boss does not notice ‘what is going on under his very nose’. Some bosses ‘cannot see beyond their noses’.

A research reveals that there are 14 types of noses. The shapes are varied, from 'fleshy' to 'celestial'. The study says, whether aquiline or snub, a person's nose indicates her/his personality traits as well, ranging from how smart and ambitious to how generous or spiritual the she/he is. That means we cannot hide who we are, from nosey Parkers. Female film stars are known to get their noses reshaped to remove some actual or perceived blemish or to enhance their attractiveness. May be it is time for such nose jobs to project one's personality!

Management jargon advises us to ‘start work with one’s right foot forward’. Since ages, Indian pundits and mothers have been advising their patrons/wards to start a new assignment and start for the examination only when the breath is coming out of the right nostril.

During my school-days, i read a poem about the claim of the nose that glasses belong to it and not to the eyes. The dispute is referred to lips as the Judges. The nose engages tongue as its pleader to argue its case but the eyes only keep on looking helplessly. After listening to the argument, the Judges pronounce their verdict: Let the nose have its claim but whenever it wears glasses, eyes should be shut!!!

Talking of body-fragrance, i am reminded of the cruel fate of a legendary musk-deer. It wanders and runs fiercely to locate the source of the fragrance, unaware of the fact that it emanates from its own navel. The poor creature is said to have met a sad end out of exhaustion in its search for the source of the fragrance. The nose fails him.

Roses and noses not only have an intimate relationship but also rhyme together perfectly. The other day, a friend was waxing eloquently about his love for roses. Another friend shot in, “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose; why make a song and dance about it?”

Reading about fragrant roses and beautiful noses, would you say, “A nose is a nose is a nose?"