In plain words
In those days I used to write songs to rid the people of their craze for fashions and to make sacred feelings grow. I found out who in the village was doing what, wrote songs to fit, had children sing them in front of their houses, and brought those people to their senses. At that time, in the villages, they thought wearing a watch on the wrist a great fashion. Not only that: they wore ‘Hitler moustaches’ under the nose, like ticks. To teach such people sense, I wrote this:
At the end of the left arm, some gleaming white disc; they tie on a leather strap and let it dangle; what get-ups are these, friend? Guises not fit to be seen with the eye; what get-ups are these, friend? They shave the long moustaches and clip them and keep four near the nose; what get-ups are these, friend?
“What is this get-up, my dear! It looks as if flies have settled under the nose. This is not good,” I talked them round. These fashions did not spring up all at once. One person saw another and copied him. Then the women gave up the auspicious turmeric and kumkum and began wearing a tiny dot that can scarcely be seen. But how long did these fashions last?