This knife Fuxwell. That file is a bastard!

Speaking of hilarious German brands, Fuxwell knives were an integral part of every household for as long as I can remember. There was simply no competition in the category, and the cheap, durable, and German-made knives made easy work of slicing in the kitchen.

Of course, it was the closest, my Catholic mom came to uttering an expletive. And the sales guys at Currimbhoys in Chennai never batted an eyelid while being asked for one. Whether it was ignorance or just routine that made them straight faced while shouting out the brand out across the store, I'll never know.

Of course, when cousins came over, we'd huddle over the knife and giggle at the brand name which was printed discretely on the blade.

That, and the flat bastard file caused a giggly huddle of cousins.

.

The bastard file, I discovered later, wasn't really a brand, but rather a kind of file whose teeth configuration was in between a rough and coarse.

On a recent shopping spree for knives, I kept an eye out for a Fuxwell knife, only to discover that it is now called Fixwell in an apparent whitewashing attempt The corporate website of course has no record of its history and no mention of Fuxwell. Sigh!