From Ghurka Poseur to Ghurka Owner

One morning ten years ago when I was an adjunct professor, I went to a faculty meeting and plopped my inexpensive canvas handbag piped with fake leather on the table. My teacher's salary was woeful, and I purchased a style of bag I liked and could afford. Another professor came in and said, "Is that a Ghurka bag?" Ghurka? I'd never heard of it. Later, I found the Ghurka website and fell in love. Unfortunately, anything Ghurka was out of my price range. I started checking sales and eBay listings and recently found a vintage Ghurka tote of blue canvas with leather trim being sold by the daughter of a woman who had recently passed away. The mother had kept her Ghurka in its original bag in her closet and had used it only a few times. The daughter had no idea of the bag's value, and I was able to snag it for a good price. My first Ghurka! When my niece boasted about her collection of Louis Vuitton bags, I said, "Well, I'm a Ghurka girl." I plan to save up so that one of these days I'll have a new Ghurka bag that will last me the rest of my life. After I'm gone, I have no doubt that the bag will go to some other Ghurka girl yearning for her first acquisition.