Waqt-Time

I do not consider myself a good writer. Constantly fretting over words, and if I am able to do justice to the event I can waste time over the simpliest of things. When a friend recommended to me that I start a blog ,I thought about the time (waqt in hindi) that this endavour would take. I knew this would be a harder task for me than most. I have been in India since May 26th now, but have not written in blog form. The pictures of my research for UNICEF have been uploaded on Facebook, and I constantly wrestled if I should give this medium a try.

It was not Amitabh Bachchan who also blogs (http://blogs.bigadda.com/ab/) but a unique and Indian experience that made me want to write. I now live in Bangalore, in one of the small streets near Lal Bagh Botanical gardens. I decided to go for a haircut as my visage was becoming quite hirsute. Upon entering the place I found all the chairs full with heads turned towards a small screen in the corner playing a Tamil film. The people were not customers but workers who were watching a film. After making way and getting started on the haircut I noticed in the reflection of the mirror that my barber was multitasking; he was cutting my hair while following the movie. He would laugh at comedic scenes and marvel at the action displayed on screen.

Taking a cringe and instead of being uncertain of his skills and blade which was now at the back of my neck, I shrugged and decided to also join him, stealing glances at the screen when I could. So involved we got that though I did not speak the language he took breaks and asked me to look at the screen for action and comedy scenes. When finsihed he looked at one of the other men at the shop who asked him to cut a little more on the side; curious as usually the person getting the cut is asked. He spoke very little Hindi and I did not understand Tamil but it was perhaps the most enjoyable haircut I have had….thankfully he also did a good job.