It was fascinating to read 'Kyoto is like a Kimono' written by Mr. Kazi Khaled Ashraf published in The Daily Star of January 21, 2004. At one place he wrote: " The area is also known for the geishas. One travel book mentioned that if you are lucky, one just might have been sighted. One drizzly evening, as I was returning from dinner, I saw her, perfect in her lemon-yellow Kimono, her hair in a stylised setting, and her face lit by makeup. She came out of a restaurant, and the two men reverently holding an umbrella over her, hurried her onto a waiting taxicab. She was gone.

I did not know the term 'geisha'. Instantly I opened the Oxford and found it there defined thus: " A Japanese woman who is taught to entertain with conversation, dancing and singing." If so, then Geisha is most likely to be seen performing in the restaurants, clubs and cabarets. But Mr. Ashraf mentions her as a person of rare sight. This is not clear. Would Mr. Ashraf or anybody come up with what the word 'geisha' actually means?