My Request

Barber shops------------
Barber community is talkative, they say, they are inquisitive and unnecessarily question their customers on a number of topics. Funny, the questions they ask their customers. Once a barber asked his customer how he should cut the hair, the customer replied solemnly, keeping your mouth shut. Joke apart, many barbers’ jokes are prevalent. Barring some honorable examples, barbers’ profession is male dominated profession in India. It is not so in many European countries and USA. Barber shops in America are managed by young and beautiful ladies. As such the prices of all the operations are very oppressive. There are no beauty parlors in America. Only hair dressing salons and that too predominantly female dominated. American women do not mind their males being touched by other women. Even though beauty parlors are not there, massage parlors are in plentiful. That too manned by women. I don’t know of other places but San Francisco, Los Angelis and San Diego are thriving markets for massage parlors. Massage parlors are two types, one of regular body massage for the health conscious people, and second of pleasure massage types. The second type are nothing but prostitution rings, populated by beautiful ladies normally advertised in loud and colorful manner in the local newspapers. Male massages makers are also advertised with their Sandow bodies for ladies, how lucky!
I went to a normal barber shop in San Francisco and Fairfax operated b y ladies. Ten dollars is normal charge for regular hair cutting without extra grooming. This seems to be the standard rate. Like other shops the business hours are displayed outside the shops. I calculated, we Indians have this bad habit, 10*45=450, my God, I will have to pay 450 rupees just to cut my hair! This is outrageous! But there was no way out so I handed my neck to an middle aged lady who promptly took charge of my head and proceeded to play with my head. While doing her job, she enquired after my family and by the she finished her job, she knew more about me than myself. She used so many instruments while doing her job that I looked dazedly at them. I remembered my barber nostalgically back in India, who only uses a pair of scissors and a comb. The shop was spacious but extra-ordinary silent. I began to think about it, and then I found that there was no radio or TV playing there. American barbers are careless about customer entertainment, nor was there any newspapers in the shop. In spite of so many instruments she took half an hour to finish the job. What she was doing with my hair God alone knows. After the hair cut, I perused in the mirror. I must admit one thing, Indian barbers even sitting by the road side, are far more expert that their American counterparts. After paying solid $10, I realized that hair cutting is skill of hand and not of machine.

A Donkey’s Marriage---(Gadhavach Lagna)
This has been a great skit in Marathi and a great play in our native language that is called Marathi. Z TV has presented this wonderful play in a most beautiful manner. The story is simple. A potter by the name of Sawala Kumbhar is residing in a village. The village is replete with unsocial elements and crooked characters. Sawala’s wife is very charming and sexy so a number of people in the village have an eye on her. As is wont with wives, she is very quarrelsome and loudmouthed woman. Her name is Gangi or Ganga. She is always guarding her husband and pestering him to do this thing and that so much so that he is tired of her and he contemplates suicide. So he goes in the forest where he meets a God man. Sawala Kumbhar talks with the Baba and Baba offers to take him to Heaven( swarga) without dying. He asks Sawala to close his eyes and lo! The next minute they are in heaven, in the court of Indra maharaj. Now Sawala is totally unprepared for all this, is very much shabby and manner less in the company of Gods. As is the habit of villagers, he talks also loudly with them. He is charmed by the Apsaras (the courtesans in the court of Indra). He enjoys the dance of Rambha sitting near Indra. He says loudly that he has done a serious mistake in marrying with Gangi hurriedly. A God Chitrasen holds the hand of Rambha and Indra is red with anger. The God of Gods, Indra curses Chitrasen to take birth on the Earth as a donkey. Then Indra has pity on Chitrasen and tells him that if he marries the daughter of the king of the land, then he would get man’s life again but he would have to spend rest of his life on Earth before returning to heaven.
Accordingly Chitrasen is born on Earth as a donkey and comes to Sawala Kumbhar. Potters normally keep donkeys to fetch earth for them turn their wheels and shape earthen pots and the like. Then the king’s young and pretty daughter takes into her head to marry the donkey in Sawala’s possession. Sawala seeing the opportunity to mint money, imposes several conditions for the marriage. Then king also tells Sawala to build a building with seven stories. But with the donkey’s help Sawala builds the mansion with seven stories. At last the grand ceremony of the donkey’s marriage to the princess is solemnized. In the marriage a fight ensues between the queen and Ganga on the matter of give and take. But everything is well that ends well. In the marriage donkey become Chitrasen and looking at the handsome prince, everybody is astonished.
The skit is very well written with punches at the right moments. The play is replete with double meaning sentences. The play is also rich in costumes and jewelry and stately sets. Thanks to Z TV for picturing this wonderful play. The star cast is appropriate and the girls very beautiful. We enjoyed the play very much and laughed a lot.