In an article written in Abhivyakti - a monthly newsletter published by Ananya, Manasi Prasad wrote about the fact that Carnatic classical music had adopted a strong religious flavour as it evolved over the ages and literally every Carnatic music concert was laden with songs sung in the praise of some God or the other. In the process, emotions like love, bereavement, joy and sorrow, that perhaps everyone of us can connect to and can easily identify ourselves with, seemed to have lost their place not only with composers but also with the connoisseurs of Carnatic music. While lyrics do play their part in helping listeners appreciate a song better, I believe that the one of most important characteristic of a song is its tune. A song with a really offending tune can easily put people off irrespective of how good its lyrics are. If you have watched programs like TVS Saregama or Ede Tumbi Haadidenu you would know what I am talking about. That being the case, Manasi wondered as to why Carnatic music performances seemed so impoverished on themes, with all musicians unanimously sticking to just one theme - Bhakti. Would a composition be construed "less Carnatic" if it chose to highlight the emotions that we go through on a day-to-day basis than to focus on just plain devotion ? It really shouldn't matter whether a song speaks about a mother's unfailing love towards her child or about the pain suffered by a woman when she hears the news of her lover's death. As Manasi puts it, lyrics are purely incidental.
In a complete departure from traditions associated with the usual Carnatic music concerts, Manasi Prasad presented a programme called Olave Jeevana Saakshaatkara where the emphasis was on using Carnatic music to understand the various facets of love, the various forms of the love that we as human beings tend to express, be it towards our parents, our children, our friends, our partner or even towards that supreme power which is supposedly holding this universe together. There was plenty of innovation on display in Manasi's "Walk the Talk" performance and I must admit that she pulled off a stunning feat. It was not surprising then that when she concluded her show, a large section of the audience stood up and rightfully presented her with a standing ovation. For once, I had seen something different in a music concert.
The concert was different along several lines. Manasi had chosen a theme to focus all her songs on. Each of her songs was preceeded by a brief explanation that elucidated the meaning of the lyrics. I totally appreciated this effort because Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam are quite exotic to me. Manasi sang and spoke into a microphone that she seemed to be wearing from around the back of her head. While most musicians prefer to sit at one place throughout their concert, Manasi chose to walk around the stage freely as she explained her songs to the audience! The stage where the artists performed was styled with props, which with their intricate carvings, resembled the stone pillars from ancient Hindu temples. The lighting kept changing every now and then to reflect the predominant mood of her songs. Every once in a while, Manasi would bring her dancing skills to the fore and enact her songs as she sang them ! She seemed so keen to blend with her audience and engage them in a musical ride where she would show them the nuances of traditional Carnatic music while at the same time touching their hearts with stories of love.
While I sat there in the auditorium watching Manasi perform, I would often look around and find mostly people who seemed to be in their fifties or sixties. There were just a handful of those who were in their twenties. It is an acknowledged fact these days that Carnatic music doesn't sell well to the younger generations. Modern day artists like Manasi have two options then - continue the age old ways of traditional Carnatic music while simultaneously ruing about the fact that the art no longer receives the kind of patronage it used to receive before or repackage the art and deliver it a manner that is more appealing and suitable to the younger crowd. There's no denying the fact there is a lot of fun to be had here !
As far as Manasi's singing is concerned, well, let's just say that she truly rocks !
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Oops..she said "yes"
As yet another Valentine's Day draws to an uneventful close, here I am celebrating my impeccable record of being single for the past 25 years. Joining in me in this celebration are Pramod Biligiri and Kandarp, who have also put in a lot of effort, year over year, to ensure that their relationship statuses haven't had a chance to undergo dramatic changes. Welcome to the anti-valentine party, guys ! Anything that is heart-shaped and red in colour is strictly prohibited here.
Did I just say that this Valentine's Day was largely uneventful ? Look here ! Read it ? Well I am so glad that you decided to return to my blog after reading a Rakhi Sawant article. Somehow I felt you would go over to Google and search for Rakhi Sawant pictures ;-) Now that I have your undivided attention, let me tell you that I didn't have Rakhi Sawant in mind when I was thinking about what to write in this post. And therefore, it is purely coincidental that the subject matter of this post should bare some sort of resemblance to the drama reported in the aforementioned article.
This incident happened seven years ago when I was a first year student in engineering college. Mr.C, one of my seniors back then, was instrumental in setting up the whole incident and ensuring that I was the chief protagonist in the drama that unfolded subsequently. Before we get into the thicks of things here, let me introduce Mr. C to you. C was by far one of the most popular guys in the campus. He was an acknowledged STUD in his computer science class. He was also one of the front runners in the campus when it came to extra curricular activities (which by the way also includes flirting with all the popular girls). He was extremely helpful as a senior. I could go to him any time during the day and the night and there he was, ready to listen to me as I complained about the mess food, told him how some of the classes really sucked, how some classes were truly fun , so on and so forth. To cut the long story short, he was one of the most bindaas guys around. But amidst all the fun you could derive by hanging around with C, you also had to take some stick especially if you were a first year student from Bangalore. My first conversation with him proceeded like this:
C: So you are from Bangalore huh ? What is your name ?
me: Vinay Murthy
C: Who the <beep> asked you to wear a t-shirt ? Aren't you supposed to be dressed in formals ?
me: My shirt isn't washed. I didn't have anything else that I could wear.
C: I don't <beep> care. Do you <beep> understand, you <beep> ? Now get your <beep> <beep> out of this <beep> <beep> place.
Yes, I would get totally beeped out talking to him.
It was time for the college's annual cultural festival and the seniors decided to let the first years free so that they could have some fun and enjoy the fest. However this freedom, as I realized later, came at a cost. On the first day of the three-day fest, I decided to check out an event that C was conducting. I thought this was a great opportunity to get to know C better. Also, it wouldn't hurt to boost C's ego a bit by telling him how good his show was and how much I really enjoyed it. I really wanted to stop those beeps coming my way. So I walked into the hall where the event was being conducted and sat right in front of the dais so that C could take notice of my presence. I laughed loudly whenever C cracked a joke, clapped vociferously whenever he foxed everybody with his quick wit. In essence, I played every move I knew to impress him and get noticed. Ofcourse C didn't disappoint either. His eyes lit up when he saw me. It was almost as if a thirsty dracula had suddenly smelt blood. As soon as the show was over, C walked up to me and said "So, did you like the show ?". "Of course. It was brilliant. I didn't know you spoke so well. Very enlightening. And oh, that sense of humour, I wish you could pass over some of that to me. Very nice...hehe" I replied. Unfortunately, that last bit where I spoke about his humour, landed me in trouble instantaneously. I had successfully taken the bait and C decided to demonstrate his sense of humour again, in other words to go for the kill. We walked out of the hall and sat down in the main lobby where about hundred or so students from various other colleges had accumulated. Coincidentally, at around the same time, one of the girls from C's batch walked by us. She was known to be an extremely serious character, a STUD in her class as well. She had stunning looks and was fully aware of the fact that guys admired her for that very reason. Some even took the trouble of going down on their knees for her, with flowers in their hands. Experience had taught me that such girls can be very dangerous. Be sure to stay away from them as much as possible. Trouble could show up any moment. Experience had also taught C the same thing !
Eager to put me in a spot, C decided that I should socialize with that girl. He walked over to the lawn nearby, gathered some coloured leaves and stuffed them into my hand. Out came his wicked sense of humour that I had appreciated so profusely a couple of minutes ago -
C: Do you see that girl standing there ? Her name is R. I think the two of you would make a great couple. Why don't you propose to her right now ?
me: Err...what ? I don't even know her. You have to be kidding C. What if she slaps me and stuffs these leaves into my mouth ? And there are a hundred people here C. Don't make me do this.
C: <villainous grin that meant "you don't have an option, buddy. I can't help the fact that I am elder to you.">
R was standing at the center of the lobby, talking to her friend P. The fest had been forgotten for the moment and all eyes were on R. She was the topic of discussion for all the "guy groups" standing there. And then suddenly from nowhere, to everybody's disbelief, a guy with leaves in his hand approaches R. P spots me first and alerts R about it. I am sure R was thinking "Oh no, not again". The whole lobby had suddenly turned silent. The team that was registering participants for various events, put everything on hold. Trouble sensed an opportunity to make an appearance as well. I mustered all the courage I could, walked up to R, went down on my knees and said
I bring no ring, but only leaves from a distant tree
If it ain't too much trouble, would you mind marrying me ?
OK, now get ready to be thrashed for uttering such stupid lines. I could sense her hand moving towards my face. Her eyebrows were knotted and I could tell she was pissed. The end had come. This was it. My reputation was all set to go to the dogs. C had managed to embarrass me in front of a huge crowd. My heart was pounding hard and fast. Her hand was moving swiftly and was seconds away from establishing physical contact with my face...three...two...one... zero...zero..zero... what ? no slap ? How could that be possible ? Instead R took the leaves from my hand and started a conversation
R: What is your name ?
me: uh..
R: Did you put these leaves together ?
me: err..
R: I like them, very artistic. Although, I like flowers more than leaves.
me: ahem <why don't you just slap me and I'll run away from this place...this is so disgusting>
R: Actually, my name isn't R. It's S.
me: Oh!
S: And it's okay if you don't have a ring right now. But make sure you bring it to the marriage. No plans to elope right ?
me: <what ????>
S: Actually should we wait to tell our parents about it ?
me: <what ????>
S: Great job Vinay ! <She knew my name ?? who told her ? >. How about some coffee ?
me: err...sure, why not ?
People standing in the lobby couldn't believe what they were seeing. How did he pull it off ? That too with leaves ?
While we were at the coffee, S told me that she knew this was all C's idea. After all, he wasn't covering his face with a newspaper for nothing while I talking to her in the lobby (with leaves for added effect). She thought this was her chance to pull a fast one on him. The marriage was obviously a joke. C later joined us and we all had a good laugh about it.
Did I just say that this Valentine's Day was largely uneventful ? Look here ! Read it ? Well I am so glad that you decided to return to my blog after reading a Rakhi Sawant article. Somehow I felt you would go over to Google and search for Rakhi Sawant pictures ;-) Now that I have your undivided attention, let me tell you that I didn't have Rakhi Sawant in mind when I was thinking about what to write in this post. And therefore, it is purely coincidental that the subject matter of this post should bare some sort of resemblance to the drama reported in the aforementioned article.
This incident happened seven years ago when I was a first year student in engineering college. Mr.C, one of my seniors back then, was instrumental in setting up the whole incident and ensuring that I was the chief protagonist in the drama that unfolded subsequently. Before we get into the thicks of things here, let me introduce Mr. C to you. C was by far one of the most popular guys in the campus. He was an acknowledged STUD in his computer science class. He was also one of the front runners in the campus when it came to extra curricular activities (which by the way also includes flirting with all the popular girls). He was extremely helpful as a senior. I could go to him any time during the day and the night and there he was, ready to listen to me as I complained about the mess food, told him how some of the classes really sucked, how some classes were truly fun , so on and so forth. To cut the long story short, he was one of the most bindaas guys around. But amidst all the fun you could derive by hanging around with C, you also had to take some stick especially if you were a first year student from Bangalore. My first conversation with him proceeded like this:
C: So you are from Bangalore huh ? What is your name ?
me: Vinay Murthy
C: Who the <beep> asked you to wear a t-shirt ? Aren't you supposed to be dressed in formals ?
me: My shirt isn't washed. I didn't have anything else that I could wear.
C: I don't <beep> care. Do you <beep> understand, you <beep> ? Now get your <beep> <beep> out of this <beep> <beep> place.
Yes, I would get totally beeped out talking to him.
It was time for the college's annual cultural festival and the seniors decided to let the first years free so that they could have some fun and enjoy the fest. However this freedom, as I realized later, came at a cost. On the first day of the three-day fest, I decided to check out an event that C was conducting. I thought this was a great opportunity to get to know C better. Also, it wouldn't hurt to boost C's ego a bit by telling him how good his show was and how much I really enjoyed it. I really wanted to stop those beeps coming my way. So I walked into the hall where the event was being conducted and sat right in front of the dais so that C could take notice of my presence. I laughed loudly whenever C cracked a joke, clapped vociferously whenever he foxed everybody with his quick wit. In essence, I played every move I knew to impress him and get noticed. Ofcourse C didn't disappoint either. His eyes lit up when he saw me. It was almost as if a thirsty dracula had suddenly smelt blood. As soon as the show was over, C walked up to me and said "So, did you like the show ?". "Of course. It was brilliant. I didn't know you spoke so well. Very enlightening. And oh, that sense of humour, I wish you could pass over some of that to me. Very nice...hehe" I replied. Unfortunately, that last bit where I spoke about his humour, landed me in trouble instantaneously. I had successfully taken the bait and C decided to demonstrate his sense of humour again, in other words to go for the kill. We walked out of the hall and sat down in the main lobby where about hundred or so students from various other colleges had accumulated. Coincidentally, at around the same time, one of the girls from C's batch walked by us. She was known to be an extremely serious character, a STUD in her class as well. She had stunning looks and was fully aware of the fact that guys admired her for that very reason. Some even took the trouble of going down on their knees for her, with flowers in their hands. Experience had taught me that such girls can be very dangerous. Be sure to stay away from them as much as possible. Trouble could show up any moment. Experience had also taught C the same thing !
Eager to put me in a spot, C decided that I should socialize with that girl. He walked over to the lawn nearby, gathered some coloured leaves and stuffed them into my hand. Out came his wicked sense of humour that I had appreciated so profusely a couple of minutes ago -
C: Do you see that girl standing there ? Her name is R. I think the two of you would make a great couple. Why don't you propose to her right now ?
me: Err...what ? I don't even know her. You have to be kidding C. What if she slaps me and stuffs these leaves into my mouth ? And there are a hundred people here C. Don't make me do this.
C: <villainous grin that meant "you don't have an option, buddy. I can't help the fact that I am elder to you.">
R was standing at the center of the lobby, talking to her friend P. The fest had been forgotten for the moment and all eyes were on R. She was the topic of discussion for all the "guy groups" standing there. And then suddenly from nowhere, to everybody's disbelief, a guy with leaves in his hand approaches R. P spots me first and alerts R about it. I am sure R was thinking "Oh no, not again". The whole lobby had suddenly turned silent. The team that was registering participants for various events, put everything on hold. Trouble sensed an opportunity to make an appearance as well. I mustered all the courage I could, walked up to R, went down on my knees and said
I bring no ring, but only leaves from a distant tree
If it ain't too much trouble, would you mind marrying me ?
OK, now get ready to be thrashed for uttering such stupid lines. I could sense her hand moving towards my face. Her eyebrows were knotted and I could tell she was pissed. The end had come. This was it. My reputation was all set to go to the dogs. C had managed to embarrass me in front of a huge crowd. My heart was pounding hard and fast. Her hand was moving swiftly and was seconds away from establishing physical contact with my face...three...two...one... zero...zero..zero... what ? no slap ? How could that be possible ? Instead R took the leaves from my hand and started a conversation
R: What is your name ?
me: uh..
R: Did you put these leaves together ?
me: err..
R: I like them, very artistic. Although, I like flowers more than leaves.
me: ahem <why don't you just slap me and I'll run away from this place...this is so disgusting>
R: Actually, my name isn't R. It's S.
me: Oh!
S: And it's okay if you don't have a ring right now. But make sure you bring it to the marriage. No plans to elope right ?
me: <what ????>
S: Actually should we wait to tell our parents about it ?
me: <what ????>
S: Great job Vinay ! <She knew my name ?? who told her ? >. How about some coffee ?
me: err...sure, why not ?
People standing in the lobby couldn't believe what they were seeing. How did he pull it off ? That too with leaves ?
While we were at the coffee, S told me that she knew this was all C's idea. After all, he wasn't covering his face with a newspaper for nothing while I talking to her in the lobby (with leaves for added effect). She thought this was her chance to pull a fast one on him. The marriage was obviously a joke. C later joined us and we all had a good laugh about it.
Saturday, February 09, 2008
An evening outside a beauty parlour
Every once in a while, life throws some interesting experiences at you. These experiences can be so impactful that they end up making you wiser, cautious and more knowledgeable than you were before. Lately I have been going through several such experiences, but I would like to specifically talk about one such experience that happened last weekend. It is interesting for two reasons 1) It involves an instance of the fairer sex (I can hear the guys saying "ALRIGHT!!!" ) 2) It also has to do with a beauty parlour (REEEEAAALLLLYYY?? yeah really, you think it's fun ?).
Many of you might be wondering as to what I was doing at a beauty parlour. Trust me, at the end of the whole experience, I ended up asking myself the same question - "What was I doing at a beauty parlour of all places and that too on a weekend ?" sigh..strange are the ways of life. Here's the story for you - A cousin of mine, who lives in Cochin, was visiting Bangalore to meet her folks. She had a marriage to attend at her hubby's place in Dharwad and she thought it might be a good idea to spend a week in Bangalore before proceeding to Dharwad. She called me up last weekend to check if she could hang out at my place and if I could drive her around to a couple of places in the city to help her do justice to her shopping list. Somewhere during that call, when I wasn't paying attention, she quickly mentioned to me that I had to also take her to a beautician so that she could get her eyebrows done. Honestly, until that point, I had absolutely no clue about this "getting eyebrows done" business. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I guessed that it had something to do with women trimming their eyebrows so that they could look good (and see well perhaps ;) ) and all that jazz. Given the fact that we i.e men, need just about 10 minutes to get our hair cut and that an eyebrow has substantially lot less hair compared to a guy's head, I concluded that eyebrows can be "done" in about 3 minutes flat. A bit of googling after the call suggested that anybody could "do" eyebrows and I wondered why my cousin had to consult a beautician for it. But then, since I was going to be doing more horrendous things like driving around Bangalore, carrying shopping bags for her, and explaining to her as to why a white salwar with blue whatever looks a lot better than a blue salwar with white whatever, I thought killing 20 minutes for an eyebrow-cut wasn't going to hurt much. Alas, I was so wrong !!
Firstly I realised that there's a strange connection between a woman and her beauty parlour. You can't convince her to visit some parlour. It has to be one where she's been going ever since she had eyebrows worth "getting done". Women and beauty parlours seem to connect intensely at very deeper levels. It is almost as if every girl gets randomly assigned to a parlour as soon as she is born. By the way, this pseudo-random assignment algorithm never picks the nearest parlour. So she wouldn't care if there's a parlour right beside her house. She has to visit the one that is 10 kms away. No matter how much you try convincing her, she won't budge and you finally have no other option but to yield. Apparently, the woman-parlour force is too strong for a man to conquer. He may instead drive through bizarre traffic, swear at autorickshaw drivers, park his car some ten stories above the ground and surrender to the might of the force. And while all this is happening, the lady keeps examining her eyebrows oblivious to the fact that the guy beside her is actually pulling his hair out !! You know, wherever I have lived so far, I have always chosen a barber who charges the least and whose shop is the closest to my place. After all, time is money , money is precious, but unfortunately a hair-cut isn't all that precious. All I care is that I shouldn't be spending more than 2 seconds combing my hair every morning. Somehow, this logic doesn't seem to work with women and especially my cousin. Learning 1: When it comes to logic, eyebrows and women, logic must fail.
I obviously didn't enter the parlour and so I told her to give me a buzz when she's done. After all, it shouldn't take her anything more than 3 minutes. Add some "waiting time" and the whole exercise should get over in about 20 minutes. Right ? Wrong ! I could sense the devilish woman-parlour force giving me a wicked grin. Ignoring the hints that were coming my way, courtesy the forces of nature, I decided to step into a bookshop situated close by. I sat there reading a comic, responding to messages from my friends every now and then. After about 20 minutes of valuable reading, I decided to call up my cousin to check if she was done. Well, to her misfortune and to my agony, she told me that she was still waiting for her turn and there were 10 girls ahead of her !! The wicked grins had just gotten wider. I looked around and spotted a coffee shop this time. I walked in and ordered a huge mug of cold coffee. The shop was also playing the highlights of a recent India-Australia test match and so I sat there wondering if there could be a better setting than this to enjoy one's coffee . As the cricket highlights got over (must have been an hour), I checked on my cousin again and this time she wouldn't answer her phone. I guessed that her turn had come and she was busy "shaping" her eyebrows. A bit more waiting and hopefully she should be done. I decided to take a walk as the evening weather was really good. I stopped by a roadside bookshop that was selling cheap re-prints of books that I wanted to read for quite some time now. Just as I was negotiating a deal where I felt that I had mastered the art of bargaining, my phone rang. After a 2 hour wait where I must have checked my watch a hundred times, it was finally time to pick up the cousin. Learning 2: There's more to a woman's eyebrow than what meets the man's eye. As I moved to leave the bookshop, I thought I saw a book that read "All the great men who died waiting outside beauty parlours".
When a woman asks you how she looks, especially after a visit to the parlour, make sure you give her the right answer. In most cases, you won't notice any substantial change in her looks. If you tell her that she looks great, you can move on and have that pizza your stomach has been craving for. If you stumble and tell her the truth, she'll walk back into the parlour again !! Learning 3: Beauty is subtle. Make sure you learn to notice it. Unfortunately, there's no deterministic way of clearly spotting a post-parlour change. Agree that there has been a change and make your life better.
I wondered what married men go through.
Should I really publish this ? Oh what the hell !
Many of you might be wondering as to what I was doing at a beauty parlour. Trust me, at the end of the whole experience, I ended up asking myself the same question - "What was I doing at a beauty parlour of all places and that too on a weekend ?" sigh..strange are the ways of life. Here's the story for you - A cousin of mine, who lives in Cochin, was visiting Bangalore to meet her folks. She had a marriage to attend at her hubby's place in Dharwad and she thought it might be a good idea to spend a week in Bangalore before proceeding to Dharwad. She called me up last weekend to check if she could hang out at my place and if I could drive her around to a couple of places in the city to help her do justice to her shopping list. Somewhere during that call, when I wasn't paying attention, she quickly mentioned to me that I had to also take her to a beautician so that she could get her eyebrows done. Honestly, until that point, I had absolutely no clue about this "getting eyebrows done" business. After thinking about it for a couple of seconds, I guessed that it had something to do with women trimming their eyebrows so that they could look good (and see well perhaps ;) ) and all that jazz. Given the fact that we i.e men, need just about 10 minutes to get our hair cut and that an eyebrow has substantially lot less hair compared to a guy's head, I concluded that eyebrows can be "done" in about 3 minutes flat. A bit of googling after the call suggested that anybody could "do" eyebrows and I wondered why my cousin had to consult a beautician for it. But then, since I was going to be doing more horrendous things like driving around Bangalore, carrying shopping bags for her, and explaining to her as to why a white salwar with blue whatever looks a lot better than a blue salwar with white whatever, I thought killing 20 minutes for an eyebrow-cut wasn't going to hurt much. Alas, I was so wrong !!
Firstly I realised that there's a strange connection between a woman and her beauty parlour. You can't convince her to visit some parlour. It has to be one where she's been going ever since she had eyebrows worth "getting done". Women and beauty parlours seem to connect intensely at very deeper levels. It is almost as if every girl gets randomly assigned to a parlour as soon as she is born. By the way, this pseudo-random assignment algorithm never picks the nearest parlour. So she wouldn't care if there's a parlour right beside her house. She has to visit the one that is 10 kms away. No matter how much you try convincing her, she won't budge and you finally have no other option but to yield. Apparently, the woman-parlour force is too strong for a man to conquer. He may instead drive through bizarre traffic, swear at autorickshaw drivers, park his car some ten stories above the ground and surrender to the might of the force. And while all this is happening, the lady keeps examining her eyebrows oblivious to the fact that the guy beside her is actually pulling his hair out !! You know, wherever I have lived so far, I have always chosen a barber who charges the least and whose shop is the closest to my place. After all, time is money , money is precious, but unfortunately a hair-cut isn't all that precious. All I care is that I shouldn't be spending more than 2 seconds combing my hair every morning. Somehow, this logic doesn't seem to work with women and especially my cousin. Learning 1: When it comes to logic, eyebrows and women, logic must fail.
I obviously didn't enter the parlour and so I told her to give me a buzz when she's done. After all, it shouldn't take her anything more than 3 minutes. Add some "waiting time" and the whole exercise should get over in about 20 minutes. Right ? Wrong ! I could sense the devilish woman-parlour force giving me a wicked grin. Ignoring the hints that were coming my way, courtesy the forces of nature, I decided to step into a bookshop situated close by. I sat there reading a comic, responding to messages from my friends every now and then. After about 20 minutes of valuable reading, I decided to call up my cousin to check if she was done. Well, to her misfortune and to my agony, she told me that she was still waiting for her turn and there were 10 girls ahead of her !! The wicked grins had just gotten wider. I looked around and spotted a coffee shop this time. I walked in and ordered a huge mug of cold coffee. The shop was also playing the highlights of a recent India-Australia test match and so I sat there wondering if there could be a better setting than this to enjoy one's coffee . As the cricket highlights got over (must have been an hour), I checked on my cousin again and this time she wouldn't answer her phone. I guessed that her turn had come and she was busy "shaping" her eyebrows. A bit more waiting and hopefully she should be done. I decided to take a walk as the evening weather was really good. I stopped by a roadside bookshop that was selling cheap re-prints of books that I wanted to read for quite some time now. Just as I was negotiating a deal where I felt that I had mastered the art of bargaining, my phone rang. After a 2 hour wait where I must have checked my watch a hundred times, it was finally time to pick up the cousin. Learning 2: There's more to a woman's eyebrow than what meets the man's eye. As I moved to leave the bookshop, I thought I saw a book that read "All the great men who died waiting outside beauty parlours".
When a woman asks you how she looks, especially after a visit to the parlour, make sure you give her the right answer. In most cases, you won't notice any substantial change in her looks. If you tell her that she looks great, you can move on and have that pizza your stomach has been craving for. If you stumble and tell her the truth, she'll walk back into the parlour again !! Learning 3: Beauty is subtle. Make sure you learn to notice it. Unfortunately, there's no deterministic way of clearly spotting a post-parlour change. Agree that there has been a change and make your life better.
I wondered what married men go through.
Should I really publish this ? Oh what the hell !
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