1498 : A weird hair saloon

So, let me come out of the closet….I am a bloody cheapass. I still get my haircut, every 5 weeks for a sum of 40 rupees (30 is the charge and 10 is the tip I give the barber).

Today I had left office early to accommodate a broken cavity, and a visit to make the dentist richer…..I had my hole filled (no pun intended :-), though I guess it must feel similar) by 5, I then decided to do my regular hair cut.

So picture this.

I walk into this saloon – which is empty, no customers, except for 5 to 7 of the barbers themselves. But unlike sitting and lolling and sipping tea – which is what I expect of “vela” barbers…..

I saw three of them bare chested, getting a facial (with cucumber et al), and having their chest hair being shaved….this was being done by the other barbers.

And no….I did not hold my tail and run out – this is fairly open air place in the middle of a bustling space – so I felt safe inspite of what looked like strange business.

And no…they were not customers, they were barbers….I have visited this saloon over 10 times to know all of them by now.

While one of the shavers now disengaged himself to give my hair a dress down – the others continued in their melee oblivious to the customer (me).

I found this hilarious at one plane, and completely ridiculous at another, and so unexpected at another.

For me, this is the kind of stuff that defines Bangalore in my head . Its a little soft in its balls and addled in its brains

1497 : Khel Khel Mein

If you have not heard Faridkot’s Khel Khel Mein from their album Ek, I strong urge you to listen to it.

This is Indi (and Indie) rock not just coming of age, but maturing in a cellar.

1496 : I just remembered, my bloody boat has a hole

Two lines from “Naav”, from the movie Udaan, composed by Amit Trivedi, lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya and sung by someone called Mohan. If you get confused that this is an Indian Ocean song, welcome to the club

Bhanwar Se dar Jo Haar Maan Le
Kaheka Phir Jor Hai Tera Jor Hai Tera

If you do give up in the face of the whirlpool,
then what good is all the famed strength (that your reputation seems to be announce loudly by preceding you!!)

1495 : On a day like today, life continues to offer its simple joys

The world can burn and churn….your piles can scratch and re-ignite…..your balls can itch and twitch…..the bread can be stale from its tail….the wine too sweet for the taste to meet…..the weather can pelt and swelt…..

and yet…..a super chilled Corona with lime (3 halves for me!!)….can provide a sense of placid….a false sense of calm….can  lend a myopic perspective….in an otherwise spinning world that can end anytime soon (though that was bloody well supposed to be yesterday )

One more addition to my confirmed list of poisons.

1494 : For want of mindspace

You know you are in a sour spot when you have 638 unread mails in your personal inbox and at least 100 from known friends and acquaintances – waiting to be read and replied.

Your active mind wants to break the mould, while your inert inertia wants you to let it fester.

And then you sit and complain about the urban jigsaw and the accompanying latitude and loneliness.  

When you are in a grave, anything you do, only seems to hole you in deeper

Do nothing. As our yoga teacher used to say, “Be thoughtless” How very clammily charming

1493 : Miles to go before I sweep

Calling in tired is nothing but another way of saying, “I give up.”. Really, think about it…. to be tired is to want to walk away…to call it quits.

If that were not true, one can never quite explain a climb to the top of Everest or of the everyday human feat of running a marathon.

Where is this going? I think I have been tired for quite some time now

1492: Crazy little thing called Harakiri

Have you ever had this strong desire to slap your managing director? No…not because you disagreed, but just to kind of get the answer to the “what if” question.

Or, have you while taking a tight turn, known that a small mistake could result in a big blemish for your neighbouring car…and yet you have persisted by committing to the turn.

Or, picture this. A vehicle is driving towards you on the wrong side on the road. It is playing on your desire and sanity….your self preservation….that it shall leverage and sail through…..instead of yielding….have you ever thought of flooring the pedal and hurling your action hungry car into the trajectory of the oncoming invader….

If you find these questions vaugoo….then maybe, I am the only odd man here. Because not only I have felt this way, but I have also actioned on some of these….except for the first one, of course.

Is it the gambler in me, or the Harakiri artist in me….I can’t seem to decide on the answer….help me, will ya?

1491 : Dhoni is a management quack in disguise

I have strong opinions on both Mahendra Singh Dhoni and on Arindam Chaudhari, but this post is about none of that.

For some months I have been carrying this niggling suspicion that they are long lost twins. Now I am not sure which one of them should feel flattered or are they both shattered by this full disclosure

Arindam’s image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/arindam_chaudhuri/3922891598/

Look at my other list of twins in the real world at Twin Towers of (No.....not of Miss Anderson)

1490 : To run again

I have broken the 60 minute (and the 8km) barrier twice in 3 days,  after almost 6 months. 2 months ago, I was struggling to consistently to run 3kms.

My health has been taking a steady toll. And my running has already paid the price. (As I have said before, this one is going to be my toughest year since 2001.)

On the topic of running, I want to be able to be 50, and run 15km at a go. Now if you are smart, you shall see that that wish has at least 7 others hidden within it

1489 : Angry again (and again!!)

What is anger? Anger is an emotion written in bold. Anger is a natural response to defend your turf. Anger is a evolved and deranged form of territorial pissings.

Anger is a dragon breath waiting to exhale fire.

1488 : That unbearable feeling

I have been reading Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. What can I say? I am so overwhelmed by the prose that it makes me want to write.

More on that book soon. Milan is soon becoming one of my other favorite authors – along with Rushdie, Miss Roy, Alan Watts and….the ilk.

I am feeling quite heavy and prosaic.

1487 : Strange kind of right block :-)

I have words to speak, poems to write, rants to air, a new love to share….and yet my typing is stifled….my brain is so completely clamming up.

Why?

Writing is a bit like a exercising….you are irregular…and there and bouts and period(s) wherein you just stay away….but when you do restart….you sit and wonder….WTF…. “how could I have existed without doing THIS everyday”…. the runner’s high starts serenading your soft insides again….but then, very quickly everyday  life kicks in (again)….and you become steadily irregular (again)….and the whole bloody circle repeats (again)….ad infinitum….and…..at some point…you will begin to see the damned pattern…..get bored of it, and tell yourself “grow up”.….and hence like the smart grown ups…..you just stop trying….and,,,, slowly but surely START DYING…..RIP!!