After 3 months, I’m used to having people stare at me, but today, it was for a different reason. Yesterday I got a haircut and had all of my hair shaved off, because that’s the way I normally look when I’m in the states. I like it because it’s clean, cool (as in not too warm), and easy to take care of. I especially like it because I have my own mechanical clippers at home, which means that I never have to shell out 15 bucks for a haircut. Unfortunately, I neglected to bring those clippers to India with me, so I had just been letting my hair grow out. It had gotten a bit too long and messy, so I decided that it was high time to go back to the basics.
The haircut cost 30 rupees (about 75 U.S. cents) and took 5 minutes. During that time, the barber was asking me about the states and why I decided to come to India. I also told him that a haircut in the states costs the equivalent of about 700-800 rupees, and that’s for the cheap one. He couldn’t believe that some rich people would spend upwards of 80, 90, or 100 USD just to get their hair cut.
This morning at KLB, several teachers were asking me if my parents died. Turns out that it is customary for Indian men to shave their heads when a parent passes away. That’s not to say that nobody here has a shaved head just because they like it, but usually those people ask their parents first if it is okay.
Sorry, Mom and Dad, for not asking permission to get my hair cut. But at least be happy to know that there are several people in Palampur who are glad to hear that neither of you have recently died. That’s something, isn’t it?
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