The Malayalee Face Cut
Haircuts in Bangalore are about 50% cheaper than they used to be in Bombay. However, I am disadvantaged here because I cannot decipher the barber gossip. The saloon where I have been visiting ever since I have come to Bangalore is called RamLakhan Haircutting Saloon. It has a 2ft*3ft tin portrait of Anil Kapoor parked right in front of the entrance. The barber now knows me to an extent that I dont have to tell him how to cut my hair. But still he always asks me a question.."Malayalee??" and I say no. Then he goes on with a list "Tamil?,Telgu?,Kannad?" and thats when I stop him and tell that I am "Hindi" for I am sure he has never heard of a language called Marathi. This has repeated as many times as I have had an haircut. So finally, the last time I went I asked him why he thinks I am a Malayalee and he told me that I have a Malayalee face cut!!!
posted by Neel Arurkar | 3:21 AM
7 Comments:
Felt nice to read about ur experience with the barber.
But dont you think you should have told him that your language is Marathi and not Hindi.
Even I am a Marathi living in Bangalore, but I am not ashamed of my regional identity.I think you are.You sound a bit apologitic about being a Marathi.
I hope I am wrong.
the barber was proudly displaying his regionality when he asked you about being a Mal,tam,tel,kannadiga.
But you chose to hide your identity.
This is the difference between us and Tamilians.
Bangalore has 10% Tamil poulation and 3% MArathi population.
But mharashtrians like you feel an inexplicable greatness in being known as Hindi.
On the other hand tamilians in Bangalore mek u feel u r in Tamil Nadu.
Please dont tell me tht u r a promoter of national language n national integration.U DONT HAVE ANY REGIONAL PRIDE.
I am not ashamed of my regional identity. I just thought that my barber thinks that there are only 5 languages in this world : Kannada, Tamil, Telugu , Malyalam and Hindi. I just did not want to get involved in explaining him things like which part of the country and stuff like that. After second thoughts, I feel that I will let him know the next time I go to him.
And yes, I do feel proud about Marathi, just as I feel about Hindi. One of the reasons of telling the barber that I was Hindi was that he finds a need to learn Hindi to keep his clients happy. Obviously he was not going to learn Marathi.
Anyway, keep reading the blog and thanks for 'felt nice to read'.
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"Haircuts in Bangalore are about 50% cheaper than they used to be in Bombay"
Fuuuussssssssss
I believe you don’t know that Bombay they have something called Barber association and their rate is fixed no matter which saloon you go. I had stayed in Mumbai and then Pune. Both have same trend but here in Bangalore they follow regional trend if you are HINDI speaking they will charge you different and if you are south Indian they will charge you different ……
Funtoosh, have heard about the association. My saloon in Bombay used to be a bit classy, and hence used to charge me a bit more. my barber here is a nice guy though. He has not charged me extra because I communicate with him in Hindi, but you might not have been that lucky.
FYI: The total Tamil population in Bangalore is 23% and not 10%.
sayitisntsodear, I am afraid, Jai isnt going to read that..
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