Parattai engira Blogeswari - 2

(continued from my earlier post)

Post 2000- there was a new revolution in Mumbai started by the Dilshad, Adhuna, Nalini Yasmin etc. They would do the same cut that a Royal Salooon would give you. The only difference here was....
a) the owners of these salons had an impressive client list - Aamir khan, saarukh khan which implied that Gauri khan, farah khan and 200 other people used to get their hair 'styled' by Dilshad, Adhuna etc.
b) the other hair cutters who worked there were women who had pink and green hair,
c) who chewed bubble gum all the time,
d) who had a hip(pie) look,
e) took 45 minutes to cut three or four extra strands,
f) talk to you about the latest party in town, about your career etc.
g) have a minimum of 5 weird tattoos all over their body

So anyone who would walk into their salons would automatically assume that they were being 'styled' well. Ofcourse all these came for a huge price... a hairstyle for me - i.e. making my boy cut shorter by another inch was something close to Rs.500/= way back in 2001.

Oflate, another hair cutter has joined this group: Sapna Bhavnani. Her claim to fame is
a )Dhoni comes to her salon 'Mad-o-Wot' everytime he is in Mumbai.
b) She writes about her 3rd husband, 23rd ex boyfriend,54th cigarette of the day and her 74th tattoo in a tabloid, every week +
read all points (b) to (g) in the paragraph above. Two months ago, I bumped into an acquaintance on a fine Monday morning. She looked as if she just had a fist fight / kuzhayadi sandai. Her hair looked as if someone had pulled it during a fight. Just when I was about to ask if all was ok with her, she stared at me for about two minutes and asked if she looked 'different' and even before I could say anything our pal said "I had a hair cut...".I had to say "nice...". Madam took over "Ask me who cut my hair...Sapna bhavnani!! cool na!" and walked off without even waiting for my response. A month later, met yet another just-out-of-kuzhayadi-sandai hairdo girl. Kinda avoided eye contact with her to avoid the same embarrassment (for me) but couldn't escape for long. Same question-> "Do I look different?" Same answer-> "well... nice" and yes, the same-> "Sapna Bhavnani... nice na?" What's with Sapna bhavnani? Does she take a vow every morning that she will make atleast 5 people's hairstyles disastrous?

Now let us talk about something more disastrous - My hair style. A few years ago, when I officially entered the kalyana market scene, my dad would meet all prospective guys' parents and the first thing he would tell them (even before jaadagams were exchanged ) was "You see, my daughter has short hair... hope it is ok with you... You see, because it is easier to manage during her (film)shoots, you see..."! Thankfully, I was lucky enough to be married into a Tam-Brahm family which did not insist on long hair, mookutti, metti, varalakshmi viradam, yearly madisar sessions, "samaikka teriyuma?" etc. Out of sheer enthu-ness to look a li'l lady like on my wedding day, I did grow my hair a bit for three months and tolerated those irritating strands falling on my neck in peak summer. Thankfully, the first person post wedding who told me "unakku long hair nanna suit aagalai... cut pannidu" (long hair does not suit you, please cut it!) was my m-i-l! Even before I stepped into my mamiyar veedu a.k.a sasuraal I went straight for a cutting and vetting.

Over the last few years, my hip hair salon experiments have included straightening, boy cut, baaf cut, step cut, mushroom cut etc etc. ranging from Rs.200/= to Rs.4000/= These days, I am back to my good old cutting and vetting. This time its Geetha- One fundu hair cutter - She may not have given me a great hairstyle but the best part about her is - No tattoogiri, no pink and green hair, no asking "Aren't you doing something for your hair? It's so.....dry" kinda nonsense. I walk in.She asks me "So which cut would you like?"My usual response "Please make it short...thank you". One cutting and vetting... matter over in ten minutes.

Glossary

kuzhayandi sandai - a famous battle for water on the streets of Chennai

kalyana market - marriage mandi

Varalakshmi viradam - 1/2 a karwa chauth (you fast only for half a day for your hujband)

madisar - nauvari sari

Baaf cut - Bob cut!