Do not, i repeat, DO NOT get scared by the title of the post. I firmly believe in social forces, or for that matter, economic, political, religious and any & all kind of forces acting on our lives to figure themselves out. We should not be messing with them. Nyways.
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I was simply finding pretexts to delay reaching office. Decided to skip shaving this morning and instead head to the local barber shop on my way to work. It does not belong to the new breed of a/c "parlours" but rather a plain old rustic place. Still firmly believes in calling itself a "hair cutting saloon". It was 9.20am (in the morning ok?) when i settled in to surrender myself to the barbers blade and ritual to follow. To my surprise, i find, the guy who cleans my car & bikes, settling into the chair next to me. For... a shave of course.
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I'm definitely believe in dignity of labour so plhueez, i didn't sneer at him. All our dialogues so far have been strictly professional (for him at least) across half open doors or dirty bikes standing in between. Never lasting for more than 5mins. Today was different. We smiled and got into a chat starting with "Kay kasa kay challay" in Marathi that is a longish version of "Howz it going?". And in what followed for next 10mins or so, was the first real conversation i had with him in the last 1yr he has been working for me. I asked him a whole lot of questions about things right from his family, his house, the amount of money he makes, all the way till the source of water and the grade of soap he uses to clean the bikes. 10mins later, i waved him a good bye with "Punha Bhetuya" aka "See You Again".
***
I'm not rich by any standards and neither am'i a snob (maybe cause i'm not rich!). But i definitely have my own private sphere (or cubes with those 6 sides), i spend my life in. Never really crossing paths with all those who make a living by serving the needs of the urban middle class to which the majority of us belong. Talking to this person, i've been seeing (with eyes) for over an year, but never really going beyond ensuring that he is giving me worth my money, made me think. Did i walk out of the saloon enlightened and other blah blah?? Who cares! What i surely managed to, was get away from my own life for a while and peep into some one elses. Felt good for sure. Not so much to know his, but to get out of mine!
***
How many times do you step out of your own "private sphere" entering into those "common spheres" where you get to just hang up your pretensions and impressions of who you are in the society and just chat to someone sitting next to you. Never once bothering who he is and whether his sphere is filled of more or less expensive things than yours. And if you do, what are these places?
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Okay! Now that i've set the longish context, i will just get down to listing these places. And maybe the clues you can use to identify these. This not the Lonely Planet guide to must visit places but just in case you do, let me know if you felt like i did.
1. Neighbourhood "Hair Cutting Saloon" -- These normally have names like "Lucky Star Saloon" and have paintings of Akshay Kumar, Shahrukh Khan, Sanjay Dutt & even Sunil (now Suniel) Shetty look alikes with funny harido's (that no one would really want to be caught dead with) on the boards displaying their name.
2. Pan Shops -- There are tons of clues here. You will see a lot of two wheelers parked breaking every single parking rule. The surrounding area will be glimmering with shiny wrappers of "gutkha/pan masala" . Adjoining walls "look" as if they are painted in Rust giving absolutely no hint of the original colour. People, ignoring all forms of barriers, social or economic, share a light and say thank you.
3. Public Urinals -- I know this is one smelly area (furthest away from being termed a temple) but just go to VT Station on Bombay and look for yourself to see the best example. People in suits with briefcases, patiently awaiting their turn, behind a urinal occupied probably by a vada-pav vendor.
4. Chai Tapri (Roadside Tea Stalls/Vendors) -- Shame, if you have been to india and had to read the text in braces to figure out what "Chai Tapri" is. Cause, this is one place that almost out numbers the Temples in India. Found in equal abundance in villages, towns and cities alike, this place supplies the fluid that carries the Social Oxygen in the bloodlines of Indian junta. Simply called tea, its a whole lot different from what you get by dipping a tea bag in a cup of luke warm water. It is a heady concoction of boiling tea grains, tons of sugar, cardomom & ginger. Heated & reheated to perfection all day, in a single vessel thats refilled to the brim as the level of tea drops after hour of serving. There is one tapri across the road from every business center, every construction site, every mall, every college, every office complex. People of all classes, flock to these "tapris" to have their cuppa of enthusiasm and share their days with not just friends, but who ever they find on the way to this tapri. One starts walking and talking to people on the way to the tapri. You do not really care who is standing right next to you. You do not care of the previous set of fingers holding the glass, that contains tea for you right now. You just take it from the tapriwallah (aka vendor) and sip and chat. The bonding just gets closer when it rains. The 6ftx6ft of blue tarpaulin sheet, barely covers the cart and a few of its customers. But all manage to stand under this sheet rubbing shoulders & drinking the tea from the same pot. No one's special and each pays Rs.3!
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Can't think of any more. I visit places that men frequent so this list is from the man's world. Women have started venturing, as in case of other male dominated areas, to a few i've listed, but still the list largely remains for men. Would like to know if there are any such exclusively frequented by women......there must be..hmmm..
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