My house mate’s been reading about Gayatri Devi in the August edition of The Economist. What an incredible woman. As the Daughter of the Prince Narayan of Cooch Behar she grew up surrounded by luxury. ‘Thirty horses, six butlers and four lorryloads accompanied the family to their holiday cottage.’
Hailed as a tomboy and not bothered by the distinction between raja and praja, or the social divide between women and men, she kept her husband, the Maharajah of Jaipur, company at his Polo matches and big game hunts. Fiercely passionate and dedicated to the well being of her people she opposed Jawaharlal Nehru’s 5 year socialist plan by running for parliament for the Rajasthan constituency and knocked him off with a record 192,909 votes. The worlds largest landslide. However she’s also famous for her spell in Delhi’s Tihar prison in 1975 where she softened the blow by pouring french perfume into the open sewer in her cell. As it ran through the building other prisoners gathered to inhale the wafting vapours in one of Asia’s largest prisons.
I don’t know why Chanel, or the brand which she used, hasn’t done a short film/ad championing the power of perfume. Or at least a new scent named in her honour after her death in July this year. Inspiring reason to by perfume.
Posted: 09/10/09 | Uncategorized
the perfume she used was caleche by hermes, yes tey should name a perfume after her