We’ve been in India for just under a month, and I’m somehow on my 4th pair of sunglasses. I arrived in country with a pair of cheap sports sunglasses that Danielle bought for me about 18 months ago, which I loved. I managed to hold on to them until we left Nashik, about a week into our trip. I had apparently taken them off and put them on the windowsill of our hotel room, then forgot to grab them as we hurried out the next morning to catch a train. Danielle has a pair of identical sunglasses and I maintain that she is the one that left them on the windowsill and that she’s now wearing mine. She kind of agrees, though as you will see, the other two losses have definitely been on me so my saying that doesn’t really win me any points with her.

Still mourning my sudden loss, I got my second pair at a roadside stand outside of Aurungabad for rs 150 (about $2.40). These were similar to my lost pair: black sports sunglasses, cheap and reliable. They were lost in the Arabian Sea about 5 days ago at the tender age of 15 days when I bodysurfed a wave. As the wave swallowed me, some water caught the lenses of the sunglasses like wind catches a sail, and they were gone. I figured they would float… they did not.

The next day, Danielle and I went with some friends to a market in Palolem, the next town over. While there, I again paid rs 150 for some new sunglasses. This time I got adventurous style-wise and got silver aviators with a mirror finish on the lenses. I don’t particularly like how I look in aviators, but they did a great job with the sun, so I was happy. I had those for 2 days. They succumbed in the same manner as pair number two: taken by the Arabian Sea as payment for a great wave. This time I knew the sunglasses wouldn’t float, but wore them into the water anyway. My vodka intake earlier in the day might have had something to do with that decision, but this time I had an inner tube which I was sure would convey magical protection from rogue waves… not so. Varuna/Poseidon/Neptune was apparently in need of some UV protection.

This brings us to this morning where, after a heavy dose of shame and (hopefully mock) anger from Danielle, I again hit the pavement in search of shades. After checking out three shops in Agonda, this time I settled on a white pair of plastic Ray-Bans which I’m sure are authentic (pictured above). The price? You can probably guess: rs 150. I’m told that these are the last pair of sunglasses I’m permitted to buy in India, so hopefully I can hang on to them. We’ll see…