the haircut

John was looking a bit shaggy, so after checking out a number of nearby establishments, he settled on a man locals call The King--check out the "after" pictures and decide for yourself if the moniker is warranted.  John’s first attempt to get a haircut involved a 20 minute wait as others poured in ahead of him.  Then The King got into a shouting match with an elderly man who barged under the tarp awning.  He may have been raging that he had an appointment or that this had been his corner for business or perhaps that The King had slept with his daughter—our Hindi doesn’t always allow us to pick up the subtleties--or even the broadest realities--but we could tell it was not an auspicious morning for a haircut.  Try #2 occurred the next day;  we arrived earlier, determined to assert line primacy.  All looked promising, until a chap in a fancy car pulled over for a mustache trim.  Then as The King was lathering up the fellow just ahead of John, a young man stepped up and, after an extended conversation, lifted his shirt to have his back shaved.  And really, who can get upset by line cutting under such circumstances--when you need your back shaved, you NEED your back shaved!  Once John did get into the chair, all looked golden, until a father approached with his son who was bleeding from the head.  The King had no choice but to razor off the hair all around the scalp wound, at which point, I suggested John forgo his shave.  A bit of a crowd did gather, wondering what this freakishly tall foreigner was doing getting a haircut on the streets—come on, he’s The King!  By the end, the barber cracked a smile for the camera and even gave John and fabulous head massage.  Tthe whole experience set us back $2.00 which includes a 100% tip (our apologies to subsequent tourists).

Happy client, happy King.