An old soap

I don't know how many of us would remember the 501, Nirma and similar soap bars that had become so much a part of life back in those days when Rin, Surf Excel or the fancy German detergents had still not entered the market. I remember people taking those detergent bars with them to nearby water source to wash their clothes. Much has changed now, but I still remember the fragrance of 501 or even Nirma. It has been years since I last saw one, though. Today, I stopped by a grocery store in a village on the way home. An auto driver was unloading his stock of "N S" bar. It was like glancing back at this historical, outdated soap but the shop owner and the auto driver had a different story to tell. In my curiosity, I ended up taking a photo of this while the auto driver, who looked pretty curious at my curiosity, went observing in pride - "This, saar, is still the best soap you can ever get! It used to cost just naalkaaNi" (25 paise). And to my surprise, people in this village seem to have sticked to their brand for all these years and the shopkeeper confirmed that by telling me how people keep coming for more of this. The saying 'old is gold' may not be apt here, but this certainly is old soap, and for the villagers it is that gold they get for the price they can afford, and something that they still use to wash their clothes.