with the Hair Dresser

If the title of the blog doesnt remind you of a classic story, 'With the Photographer' by Stephen Leacock(?), I hope the following will bring back some memories of the classic short story.

Do you ever get the feeling some times people seem to have a kind of power over you, the kind that you never bestow upon them... I get that feeling a lot in a dentists' chair, being a woman in gynecologist's office and off late the feeling is mounting whenever I..err.. my hair is in the hands of a hair dresser. A kind of power that make you want to say 'Mercy Pleaaaase'

The feeling is fresh in my mind having just returned from a salon. Not knowing where to bury my face so I can go unnoticed, I decided to bury it into this screen.

The guy in whose care I left my hair for what seemed like a moment, looked normal enough. I didnt for one moment on seeing him think that he had plans to transform me into a rock star. Well, the less said about the result the better.

He engaged me in some light conversation, fair enough, that was one way he could make his job interesting.. but this guy had several other ways as well. First he told me he was thinking of a hair style like that of 'Posh Spice' on my head. I figured with some effort that he was talking of Victoria Beckham.. now how the hell should I know what she looked like or what her latest hair style was. "that is like.." I asked with hesitation and he gave me a simple explanation which seemed sane enough.

As he worked some more he kept saying.. 'I am beginning to like this look.. dont you!' ... I must have been blind or something, I saw nothing.. I had no idea what he was doing with my hair, in the front it seemed he did nothing and behind he probably chopped off everything.. and then at a point where it seemed like everything was half done he said.. how do you like it.. I asked him ' are you done?!!!!!' he said 'yeah I think so..' 'OK but I think it doesnt look symmetric' and he said 'Symmetric is boring'..Now! that topic would have made for a great debate but not under this condition.. and I was starting to feel hopeless for myself.

I pushed myself to tell him that I need atleast something more.. 'Mercy Please' was what I was thinking. He did a little something but was not happy to do it.. I was abashed at my loss of words, expression.. the hair dresser and I were so out of synch. He thought he made me look like I am from this age and I left thinking 'If this is the state of the world.. I dont belong here'.

Ofcourse everybody around in the salon, complimented me on how good I looked.. but in my state of mind it all seemed liked planted evidence.. every body looked to me like accomplices in a murder..

Its not all so hopeless... as is most of life. My hair will grow and I will soon come to forget how frightening it all was. Some damages are not permanent. Knowing myself very well this will not be the last time this will happen ;) If somebody were to ask me 'who are you?' the simple answer would be 'I'm not myself!' atleast for now

Celebrating Rakhi, Janmashtami and September Birthday

I am uploading a string of videos.. first Rakhi for chaitra and advait. You will see that chaitra's left handedness is raising issues on the grandparent front.

advait is content with the world around him at the moment but chaitra is beginning to question the same. she like to put her foot down and make sure that all is just for her in this world. you will see in the birthday celebration she makes sure that her name is included in the birthday list even though it was meant to celebrate mom,grandmother's and advait's half birthday.

Even in the Rakhi video she made sure that her Rakhi choice was justified.
Have a laugh.

New Photos have been uploaded on the picasa web. Link is on the rhs. Check them out

Some Videos

'Cheeni Kum' leaves a bland taste - atleast for me

Its probably the storyline that catches attention and may be only that. An aged man(Amitabh) falls in love with a woman half his age(Tabu) and the aged man and his lover happen to be one of the most accomplished actor and actress in bollywood. The movie was all hype and no thrill. The lead pair lacked any chemistry. Very far from looking blasphemous their affair ofcourse was devoid of sugar, far worse lacked any spice.

I am not exactly sure why desi film makers love to cast children in roles that dont befit their age and maturity. Sexy as the 9 year old kid is called in the movie, was unarguably the most unwatchable character, she was mouthing dialogues that would have suited an arrogant adult. ( See Pan's Labyrinth, Ofelia can easily be any kid's dream role)

Thats almost nothing good I said about that movie. In my defense I have to say that I may have had some praises for the cinematographer, but my pirated DVD recorded from the back seat of a movie theater wouldnt allow me to assess that. As for the music I was disappointed that Ilayaraja repeated some of his old songs, no novelty in that but still were pleasant to hear. Bollywood film makers are exploring newer territories but are probably far from doing anything explosive about them.