Of Indian beauty parlours and eyebrow waalis

There I was, in a land alien to me, at the same time so familiar. I was visiting my sister in the capital city of the United States. I had visited this land a few times before, and I have always been fascinated by the chic high street, the quaint suburbs, the cleanliness, the street vendors, the stiff upper lip coexisting with the hippies...all in perfect harmony. I was with kidlet and after a manic month of travel, we decided to spend some quiet time at home. Kidlet was perfectly happy spending time indoors with her cousins. Thats when it struck me! I needed to get my eyebrows done! The sister and I had stepped out for drinks and a lazy lunch, and thats when I told her. I looked like a bear. One month of no tweezing had made me look like a man growing a beard! 'No worries', she said. 'Finish your drink, and i'll take you to my eyebrows waali.'

We decided to drive straight to this Indian beauty parlour. Situated in a beautiful neighbourhood, lined with trees and parks and cars parked in perfect unison, we stopped in front of a blue door. 'Looks nice', I said. I saw this really beautiful row house and was amazed that this was indeed a salon where hair was cut, legs were waxed and faces were bleached. The parlour was recommended by my Indian born American sister. I knew she had done her homework and she had tried a few other places before choosing this particular blue door salon. 

We rang the bell. We waited a few minutes. And we rang again. Finally a lady wearing an ikkat sari opened the door. On seeing the sister, she ranted something in telugu, which I later figured that she was the only one in the salon that day and she had a tremendously busy day. We entered the blue door to smells of India, smells of Charminar. A smell so familiar, it transported me back to the old town of Hyderabad. Incense sticks along with the fragrance of attar welcomed us. Honestly the smell was a bit too strong for me, but then I went along with it without complaining. MS Subbulakshmi's bhajans were playing in the background, Jesus, Mary, Kajol, Shahrukh, Ganesha...all stared at me from respective walls. Pochampally bedsheets covered in plastic on beds, various film magazines in English and Telugu, and creams and lotions lay strewn in one corner. As I was waiting for someone to emerge and to pluck my eyebrows, I couldn't help but notice the kind of enterprise the parlour lady was running. A saree business, a tailoring unit, home made pickles and curry powders, and of course the beautifying business, all under one roof, through the little blue door.

I was in no hurry. I had a couple of glasses of wine at lunch and was in a happy place. I took in the various decorations in the room. Then she walked in. A 50 something woman dressed in a fancy pochampalli sari. 

'Yes, what do you want?'

"Eyebrows?"

"OK sit. I do."

"OK where?"

"Only one chair we have"

"OK"

She applied some talcum powder on my eyebrows and finished the work in less than 5 minutes. The quickest and the most pain free tweezing ever! By this time MS Subbulakshmi's bhajans were over and a love song from Tollywood played in the background.

'Finished", she said

"What? So quick?"

"Yeah...see the mirror. Ok Va?"

"Oh wow! super"

I couldn't believe that the eyebrows which usually ended up with me shouting and screaming was over in less than 5 minutes. I was thanking her profusely. Then she asked sister and me if we needed some coffee. We politely declined the offer, saying we were in a hurry and paid her the ten dollars and left!

I was excited, i was happy! My f****** eyebrows were done by a brand new parlour lady and it was pain free! Back home in India now, and its time for those eyebrows to be shaped once again. And I cannot stop thinking of that blue door and that Andhra maami.

Journeys with a very impressionable 10-year old

I have always been a very random traveller, leading a very nomadic life every time I visited a new place. I would neverbplan before hand. Just land there, and figure out my way around. I would never listen to suggestions offered by people about places I wanted to visit. In fact, many a times, except for the spouse, no one would even have the remotest ideas about my journeys. Thats how I liked it, and have always kept it that way, even after rants and angry emotional blackmail from immediate family and close friends. "Why dont you tell us where you are going? We are worried sick. Remember you have a family waiting for you, anxious and always worried about your well-being", the mother would shout. And I, in return, would listen and say, "Sure, I will." And it has never.

So when the decision was made to travel with the kidlet on a music trail in the United States, first thing that came to mind...Oh boy! Now i need to actually plan the travel. Which meant, booking flights in advance, booking hotels in advance, booking city tours in advance. Second thing chewing my brain was the information that had to be given to family. I was not too keen, and gave very limited information about visiting national monuments, museums and amusement parks. Thats it. There ended the spilling of detail. I ensured I made it sound very child-friendly and I was this super mom taking the daughter on a tour to places she had read in history books. Suggestions were offered, ideas given, which I heard and completely ignored.

Travel happened. The first two cities that I visited with her, Washington DC and New York City, we walked around everywhere, not feeling a bit of pain, eating in places that were featured in the travel channel, regaling in the magic and the vibrancy of either cities, and everry now and then, updating family and friends via social media to let them know that we were doing things that were supposed to be done.

Then came the start of a supremely fascinating part of our trip. The jazz trail. Kidlet and I travelled to Memphis from New york to witness and listen to some random jazz, rock n roll, and blues. For those who havent visited Memphis, here is a little tip. May be a very useful tip too. Stay close to Beale street!!! It might be slightly expensive, but thats where the action is. Even a block away from Beale isndeserted and you actually risk being robbed or killed or whatever! Well thats how we felt. Kidlet and I have travelled alone before but never in foreign land. First time, first hand experiences. We unfortunately stayed almost a mile away from Beale and well...didnt really enjoy it. Unfortunately it was too late to change bookings and I thought..what the heck! 3 days isnt gonna kill us! Anyway...the day we landed, we decided to go to Arcade diner (the oldest diner in Tennessee), one made popular by Elvis and his mimics. We walked a couple of miles and finally found Arcade diner. It was an institution that I had only seen on television before. Both of us were all smiles seeing the posters, photographs and the food! Some greasy southern food. Who doesnt like fried food? Thats what we thought. We ate to our heart's content and talked about life, her school, my past, everything. We were friends or behaved like friends for the first time. Not a minute went by where we thought of what the next topic of discussion was going to be. It just flowed. Meal done, we walked back to our little B&B. On the way back,  i shared a few of my past experiences with her, and it felt easy. We were both comfortable.
Day 2 and 3 were spent on Beale street, a visit to Graceland (Elvis' mansion) and listening to music in little watering holes. After 3 whole days of rhythm and blues, story-telling, walks, talks, rants and a whole lot of southern greasy Memphis food, we were ready to leave and discover a new place.

Next Stop: A city I have been wanting to visit in the longest time. New Orleans. The spouse joined us there and it was a family vacation after nearly a year. The city of NOLA, what can i say...mesmerises you the minute you get in. From Bourbon street to haunted houses, live jazz to strip clubs, city parks to cemetaries, World war II museum to swamp lands, from beignets to cajun shrimp, from french homes to spanish courtyards, New Orleans was a visual treat. It takes you in the minute you arrive and never really lets you go. The memories, the experiences, the people, thebparties, the food, the shopping, everything lingers on. We were keen on doing the haunted houses tour but much to our disappointment, we walked and walked, burning a few calories, but couldnt get into the homes. The walking tour was given from outside, pity we didnt spot anything hanky panky. Kidlet was a star touring with such ease and trying out new cuisines and experiences. Not once was she complaining. May be because she wasnt in school, may be because she did not have a routine, or may be because she was with family who talked honest stuff with her. I dont know and I dont want to complain either. We laughed, we shopped, we ate, we shared stories, we were together.

Now we are back home, back to routine, back to gruelling schedules, we shared our trip details with family and friends. But the memories, the secret stories we shared and time spent with a 10-year old, my 10-year old will be with me for a lifetime.