Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Barber Chronicles

Every time I go for a hair cut, invariably I get along with the chatter barbers do. And the conversations turn out pretty interesting. Back home, the chat used to be about anything from politics to social affairs to sports. Well, its not that I know a lot about these things, but making a conversation with limited knowledge is not hard, believe me.

When I was in NJ in summer, the barber that I used to go to (well I should say, went to, cause I did that only once in the 3 months there!) was an Italian. He kept telling me about his life, how he migrated 40 years back, and how he eventually started his own saloon. Surprisingly he knew a lot about India, apparently the media there covers stories about India a lot. Probably because of the Sonia Gandhi connection. And then we went into how young India is shaping things here and home, how they are making a difference, and where India is headed. Not that I was spicing up things, but he was surprised.

Today, I had a hair cut again, and this time, the shop owner did the honors, cause others were busy. And he too knew, quite some about India. Here are snippets from the conversation:

Barber(Jesus, spelt as Heysoos): You are from Inn-dia ah? See that guy there, he is from Calcutta, where are you from?
me: mmm..my place is near Bombay.
Jesus: Near Bombay...hmm, its a biig city.
me: yup big and crowded...its like new york
Jesus: Do you play cricket...they play it in Phoenix.
me: yeah theres a tournament held there...i know a friend who plays.
Jesus: We play cricket in Mexico too..its not big like in Inn-dia, England..
me: really? i didnt know that.
Jesus: You know the best match, its between Inn-dia and Pakistan..haaha.
me: thats true, its always interesting, i never miss it.
Jesus: But I hate Australia...
me: why? they are great team.
Jesus: they are gay...they chase all other teams!
me: hahah
.
Jesus: San Jose is a great place..little Inn-dia, many Inn-dians there, lots of pretty girls there.
me: really? i'll keep my eyes open!
.
Jesus: No I won't cut more there, you'll end up looking like a chinese girl.
.
Jesus: With American girls you never know what they like..
me: :-) (what else could i say!)

8 comments:

Mukya said...

well, i like striking meaning less conversations with strangers, but i have to admit, i hate going to the barbers shop. i go there only when it become imperative that i get a hair cut.

i have such bad hair that everytime i keep wondering how the hair cut would turn out to be and also keep praying that i look as less-weird as possible ! i hate barbars shop !

btw, i just got a hair cut ... ! hate you for writing on this topic :P

Parag said...

Mukya < lol...i remember your "outstanding" hair :P , but it looks good on you, so don't hate me so much!

Natasha said...

wow nice! i had no idea about mexican cricket! looks like you're set for the smalltalk assignment :D hehe

siddh@rth said...

Hats off to you for conversing on cricket.....With the very limited (tends to zero :P) knowledge of cricket that you have, I'm surprized you pulled it off. I bet the barber was responsible for most of the talking :D........newez nice post, keep them coming :)

Parag said...

Natasha < thanks..btw smalltalk sucks, royally!

Siddharth < Dammy boy...tends to zero ah :P , yeah I'm close to that, though the frequent mid-on/mid-off conversations that I keep hearing often these days has changed that a bit.

Gandalf said...

It's cool to have a little chit-chat with a guy named 'Jesus' :D

Tapasya said...

Hehe...nice..."With American girls you never know what they like..."

ROTFL :D

Parag said...

Bhavin < yeah, a chit chat with God :) and it was quite revealing!