A Sonnet of Heresy

Cut above the head… and rest!

At a recent press conference for Head and Shoulders shampoo Saif Ali Khan said looks are very important. He actually said looks are the most important things on a person’s mind and that everyone wants to look good. I would never argue with that one. Everyone wants to look good and they try doing things that they think make them look better. Quite often people end up making a fool of themselves… but that’s another topic altogether and will demand another post. This post is primarily about my own expectations and a small trial, and what I realized of it.

Last month while shopping at Hyper City I got a coupon which entitled me to a hair cut at a rather up-market salon Enrich at 50 per cent the regular price. So I was to pay Rs 99 for what usually cost Rs 200. For ages I have wondered what it is inside those fancy doors that these places charge such ransom amounts of a hair cut. For a middle class guy like me, Rs 30 that I usually pay for a hair cut in Mumbai nagri also seems huge. You can’t blamce me… my good old barber in Guwahati has now reached Rs 15.

Getting back to the ‘Enrich’ing experience, I reached this place with my rather untidy and terribly long hair last Saturday after taking an appointment one day in advance. 12.30 pm. They make me wait for sometime and finally when I get in I get my first smile. A girl to attend to me… now that surely is more interesting that they same old not so appealing guys! But things just stopped there… well the good things. For so much of a place, I expected them to come up with intelligent observation on what would look better. This girl naively asks how would I like my hair – I say keep it short. Just about when I thought she has done a fair enough job, she asks me, “Sir how do you part your hair? Was it middle parting?” Lady you didn’t even notice what my hair was like! I just combed my hair back to place, paid Rs 110 (Rs 10 tax + Re 1 change).

As I walked out of the great place I started wondering why would I ever come back to this place. AC, and cool music… and pretty looking girls sitting next to me… that could be a motivation. On second thoughts I thought Rs 200 (and some other such places charge Rs 500 and more as well) would mean a whole year of hair cut if I go to the barber very two and half months. That’s only in Mumbai. In Guwahati it would mean some three years of service! Plus I get the tried and tested barber who has attended to me since I was capable of going to him along and since upright on his shaky wooden chair! And guess what… he knows better style than most of us. At least he never bothered asking me what look I liked and just cut it according to what he thought would look best on me.

As I was thinking about all this, I realized how certain things always left an impression on me and probably made me lazier. Today I don’t know what to say to a hair stylist… I am lost when asked for options. And my good old barber, also known as Thakur, is probably one of the people responsible! But then that’s what comfort is all about!

Trying to figure out where I am headed? Great spirit! But Didn’t I mention it in one of my earlier post that I never make sense. Stop searching…! This is just a post to announce that I had my most expensive hair cut ever… and people didn’t even notice that I got one. Got the cut?