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The Song Challenge:   The Day That Saji's Sari Slipped and Baji's Bobbin Got Buffed . . . India's health minister has banned the use of condoms to lubricate bobbins used in weaving saris.  CP Thakur has told parliament sari makers are using condoms to speed up weaving because condom lubricant was also good at stopping yarn from snapping.    Mr. Thakur claims the use of so many condoms in the sari industry is affecting India's population control programme.    "Instructions have been issued to stop this practice," Mr Thakur said.  Mr Thakur says the use of condoms in weaving is causing shortages and instances of unscrupulous government health workers meant to distribute free condoms to contain population instead selling the condoms to sari makers.  Workers rub the condoms on bobbins while they make their brocade saris.   The industry is using an estimated half a million condoms every day.   Each of the 125,000 looms in the city of Varanasi uses an average four condoms per day.   It takes nearly 15 condoms to produce one Benarasi sari. The lubricant on the condom smoothens the bobbin and makes it move faster between threads..


Sari Times, They Are A-Changing by Bradypus

Bradypus' Comments:  A shameless attempt at a 2-fer-1: can you guess the punchline before verse 6??

Come all you bold weavers and listen to me
The times they are hard, as I'm sure you'll agree
When we now make one sari, we used to make three
For the times, they are a changing

We knew how to weave well, and how to weave fast
Our saris superior, and never outclassed
But now that's all gone, as a new law's been passed
And the times, they are a-changing

The trick that we knew made the bobbin fly well
The threads never broke, as though under a spell
The saris were lovely and easy to sell
But the times, they are a-changing

A rubber, French Letter, prophylactic is what
Made bobbins bob fast back and forth like a shot
But no more in India such things can be got
For the times, they are a changing

We're moving to Italy with shuttle and loom
Somewhere on the coast we will hire us a room
And the bobbins will fly, we'll forget all this gloom
For the times, they are a-changing

Sperlonga's the place where our factory will be
And four times a day we'll send out for coffee
What comes with the coffee makes bobbins run free
And the times, they are a-changing

High fashion high quality saris for sale
An Indian-Italian style surely won't fail
We think we've achieved fashion's holiest grail
And the times, they are a-changing.

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