5 Star Haircut

Scene may be around 15 years back at home, probably on a Saturday evening.

Me: Cough cough

Dad: Who is coughing ?

Mom: Its R, he had a bath!

Dad: put 'rasnathi podi' on his head, why did he play out in sun?

Mom: He needs a haircut

Dad: I will do a 5 StarCut.

Me: Cough..., no mom, no I don’t want five-star-cut. Plz mom ..plz

Such a conversation was repeated, every month until I grew up to high shcool Until then my dad used to cut my hair. A hair cut costs may be 6 to 10 rupees back in 85 to 90's. My dad used to cut his hair all by himself, may be from his 20’s. Blame it on misery or self saturation, I was his victim. I have to say the truth, even after 20 years of experience cutting his own hair, my dad was really bad in cutting hair. My hair looked like cockroach bit into my hair after each haircut. It was so evident that even my teacher used to identify in the whole class. Thanks to my geanes which make my hair grow fast and get me out of cockroach-bit haircut with in a matter for two weeks. But the same thing made me sit for my dad’s experiment with in the next month!

My dad says 5-Star because, if he cuts my hair all by himself, he will give me 10 rupees to get a five star chocolate. One of the biggest dream to eat a full five star bar. As I have given my head to my dad, I need not share the bar with anyone else. I can eat it all alone and hence the name ‘five star cutting’

But things got changed when I went to my high school where I was aware of my hair style. Even before ‘spiking’ the hair was a stylo, my hair always stood like antenna of ‘Akashawani-Radio’ all the time! My mom had a tough time in my childhood to make this hair lay down on one or the other side. Anything youdo, it will stand up the moment moisture goes off my hair. By the time I reached 10th, I gave up working on my looks as it was almost ruined by a stand up hair style. A hair style hardly mattered from there on as looks was not on the priority list, until I went to my office. Tried so many different oils and shampoos to make my hair lay down, but my hair always won the battle. As no one from my family was around when I started moving around in and around, I tried growing my hair a bit long to check if it helps. But It gave me bad head ache and a rough look from many barbers / beauty saloon people like

“What I am supposed to do to this. I might loose my scissors in your hair”

That was the moment, I realized my dad was doing a favor to me by cutting my hair all by himself. Now in US, I went for a haircut twice and both the time, I end up looking like I had a 5 star haircut. Head saloons here have ladies do the haircut. They just go around your head with a trimmer. The choice a victim gets is whether one needs a blade of number 2 or 3. I had to ask them, which one will cut my hair shorter; I mean blade number 2 or 3? Irrespective of what I choose, I always end up like I had put my head on a grass cutter. Thanks to my dad who made sure that I won’t feel a thing if ever I have a bad haircut! I was trained from childhood! you what I mean!
We miss certain things which looks like so small …a haircut, a bite of cream bun from your favourite bakery when rushing home hungry back in our home town. We realize how big it is when we live our life so distant from what once sounded as home! I still miss the 5-star bars I relished.

Looking at my hair style on the mirror, I miss 5 star, but still my head looks the same!