It was about time for me to get a hair cut.
After class I was told by the men at reception that it's just across the street on the 1st floor.
The plan is (was), rush over, snip snip snip, and then get home quickly to empty my e-mail inbox on my IBM computer.
I ran across the street (yes, literally ran - see below posts 18 & 17 August) to have my first experience at a Bangalore barbershop.
After asking about 8 different people and bravely walking up any ol' narrow stair case I could see and practically in several people's living rooms, I finally found it.
As I walked in, I found 2 barbers, a small boy, several Hindu god posters on the walls and about 5 shrines with idols in any available corner, very clean and tidy and no customers.
They all stopped what they were doing and stared at me. They were probably thinking "Where on earth did he come from and how did he ever find us?".
I walked in and smiled, and of course, typical India, their faces lit up with the most beautiful smiles (and perfect teeth), their heads started wobbling as only an Indian's head can wobble and I was politely and kindly ushered in.
They instructed me to sit down for a hair wash, head & shoulder massage and hair cut for just a couple of Euro's. Massages seem to be part of the ritual here at the barbershop, and I'm not going to complain.
The person giving me the wash, massage, and haircut was, to my surprise, the little boy. My first reaction was, OMG child labour!
Then I noticed that he had a moustache. After a while of struggling to communicate I asked him how old was. To my surprise he was 18 years old. He looked 12! India is full of surprises.
Eventually another customer came in for a shave. Yes, in India, men go to the barbershop still just for a shave.
The other customer started talking to me in perfect English, with a slight accent.
It turned out that his wife is the head of marketing for IBM India an he's a hotshot head of finance for FGI Group (they build airports around the world). His name is Bi Shyam Balasubramanian, say that 10 times fast!
Somehow we got on the subject of Indian music and he told me that he is a fan of classical Indian music.
He asked me if he could give me a cd of some of his favourite music! Wow! What a kind thing to do? I actually had to ask him again, with nuances in case I misunderstood him.
After we were both finished (BTW, the boy gave me a perfect cut) he pulled out his laptop and started downloading the most incredible music for me.
As he was downloading, he explained all about Southern India's (Carnatic) history and music, all the while listening to the music he was describing.
By now a few other people had entered the shop, I hardly noticed because I was so engrossed in Bi's story and the music.
The barber turned off the volume of the TV (TV's seem to be permanently on all over the place) and we had a bit of a jam session while Bi's laptop pumped out the most heavenly beautiful music.
He finished downloading and handed me the cd. After thanking him, I said good bye to my new found barbershop friends and Bi and I headed down the stairs.
We were ready to part our ways, when I mentioned that I loved my haircut, was particularly happy with the shoulder massage, but was disappointed because it was only a few minutes of massage.
He then mentioned that he was heading to an ayurvedic health centre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurvedic) to pick up some medicines and that they give full body massages for just €7. He goes there 2X a month.
He asked if I'd like to come along and check it out and see if I'd like to have a massage.
We hopped into a rickshaw and headed a few kilometres to another part of town and came to the Charakass Ayuredic Health Centre. (http://www.greenmango.co.in/localbusiness/Bangalore/New+Thippasandra/Charakass+Ayurvedic+Health+Centre/-8889199546070153830)
I set an appointment to come back later and then Bi and I headed in Rickshaw back to where we met.
On the way we had such a good conversation about how he handles such a difficult function as head of finance, our lives, poverty and corruption in India and any thing else that came up.
The rickshaw dropped him off and I continued in the rickshaw onward to my apartment... smiling.
(BTW, after being so inspired by Bi's music, I created a new feature on my blog. If you look to the left of your screen you should see YouTube links to Indian music.
If you see some other types of links besides Indian music, just refresh your screen.
Hint - click on the video's while reading the blog! It adds to your Indian sentiment while reading the blog)
After class I was told by the men at reception that it's just across the street on the 1st floor.
The plan is (was), rush over, snip snip snip, and then get home quickly to empty my e-mail inbox on my IBM computer.
I ran across the street (yes, literally ran - see below posts 18 & 17 August) to have my first experience at a Bangalore barbershop.
After asking about 8 different people and bravely walking up any ol' narrow stair case I could see and practically in several people's living rooms, I finally found it.
As I walked in, I found 2 barbers, a small boy, several Hindu god posters on the walls and about 5 shrines with idols in any available corner, very clean and tidy and no customers.
They all stopped what they were doing and stared at me. They were probably thinking "Where on earth did he come from and how did he ever find us?".
I walked in and smiled, and of course, typical India, their faces lit up with the most beautiful smiles (and perfect teeth), their heads started wobbling as only an Indian's head can wobble and I was politely and kindly ushered in.
They instructed me to sit down for a hair wash, head & shoulder massage and hair cut for just a couple of Euro's. Massages seem to be part of the ritual here at the barbershop, and I'm not going to complain.
The person giving me the wash, massage, and haircut was, to my surprise, the little boy. My first reaction was, OMG child labour!
Then I noticed that he had a moustache. After a while of struggling to communicate I asked him how old was. To my surprise he was 18 years old. He looked 12! India is full of surprises.
Eventually another customer came in for a shave. Yes, in India, men go to the barbershop still just for a shave.
The other customer started talking to me in perfect English, with a slight accent.
It turned out that his wife is the head of marketing for IBM India an he's a hotshot head of finance for FGI Group (they build airports around the world). His name is Bi Shyam Balasubramanian, say that 10 times fast!
Somehow we got on the subject of Indian music and he told me that he is a fan of classical Indian music.
He asked me if he could give me a cd of some of his favourite music! Wow! What a kind thing to do? I actually had to ask him again, with nuances in case I misunderstood him.
After we were both finished (BTW, the boy gave me a perfect cut) he pulled out his laptop and started downloading the most incredible music for me.
As he was downloading, he explained all about Southern India's (Carnatic) history and music, all the while listening to the music he was describing.
By now a few other people had entered the shop, I hardly noticed because I was so engrossed in Bi's story and the music.
The barber turned off the volume of the TV (TV's seem to be permanently on all over the place) and we had a bit of a jam session while Bi's laptop pumped out the most heavenly beautiful music.
He finished downloading and handed me the cd. After thanking him, I said good bye to my new found barbershop friends and Bi and I headed down the stairs.
We were ready to part our ways, when I mentioned that I loved my haircut, was particularly happy with the shoulder massage, but was disappointed because it was only a few minutes of massage.
He then mentioned that he was heading to an ayurvedic health centre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayurvedic) to pick up some medicines and that they give full body massages for just €7. He goes there 2X a month.
He asked if I'd like to come along and check it out and see if I'd like to have a massage.
We hopped into a rickshaw and headed a few kilometres to another part of town and came to the Charakass Ayuredic Health Centre. (http://www.greenmango.co.in/localbusiness/Bangalore/New+Thippasandra/Charakass+Ayurvedic+Health+Centre/-8889199546070153830)
I set an appointment to come back later and then Bi and I headed in Rickshaw back to where we met.
On the way we had such a good conversation about how he handles such a difficult function as head of finance, our lives, poverty and corruption in India and any thing else that came up.
The rickshaw dropped him off and I continued in the rickshaw onward to my apartment... smiling.
(BTW, after being so inspired by Bi's music, I created a new feature on my blog. If you look to the left of your screen you should see YouTube links to Indian music.
If you see some other types of links besides Indian music, just refresh your screen.
Hint - click on the video's while reading the blog! It adds to your Indian sentiment while reading the blog)
Gotcha Sonny and before you could post your next blog! Hope you enjoy Hyderabad as much as you did Bangalore.
ReplyDeleteAnd you do know who built the best Airport in India right?
Ciao.
Sreedhar
Yes Sreedhar! To anyone reading this, the Hyderabad has one of the most beautiful, open, landscaped, light architecture airports in the world!
ReplyDelete