Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

It has been awhile since I talked about India. I had originally planned on writing about my time there with more frequency, but the workdays have been busy.

On my second day there, I partook in one of life’s truly great pleasures. A shave from a barber. I got a shave almost every day from a barber in India and it was an utter pleasure. It began with having a warm towel wrapped around the face to moisten up the beard. After a few minutes of relaxing, the towel is removed, a hot lather of shaving cream is generously applied all over the face.

After a few minutes to soak it in, the barber takes out his straight razor and proceeds to manipulate all the skin on my face, stretching it this way and that, to give a very close shave.

After all the hairs are gone, an after shave lotion is applied and then my face is rubbed with a type of stone that seems to stop all razor burn.

And then the good stuff starts, the head massage. Always amazing and always ending with the strangest element – the popping of the ears. The barber leans into my body, applies pressure to the side of my head and then pulls out my ears until they crack. Totally bizarre but definitely pleasant.

And all this for about 10 cents.

Gotta love it. Of course, one of the true pleasures about living in India was my ability to completely remove myself from certain shallow aspects of my character. My public appearance did not matter to me as much and I let my hair grow. Both sun and sea bleached, I ended up with a big curly (gets curly when long I discovered) mop of hair on the top of my head. And everytime I would go for a shave, the barber would always ask if I wanted a haircut. When I replied with a no, they would always respond with, “Oh, you NEED a haircut!”