My costliest haircut

I was reluctant to go for a haircut(yes i was being over conscious about the african hairstyle).

I could imagine myself in all the possible new hairstyles that the saloon guy would come up on my head. There was another thought that crossed my mind very frquently, almost all the local guys are balled( what could be the reason?? ). What if, after the 20 minutes of head down when i raise my head and look into the mirror and there are no hair on my head??

But the question "when are you planning to change your hairstyle", which i had heard from a number of people (including the receptionist of the hotel i am staying in, the guy who sits next to me in my office, the project manager from the customers side for the project i am working on) made me reconsider my decision of a hair cut only when i go back home.

Well they were not wrong, my hair had grown really long and being curly as well, they clearly looked out of control. But i wasnt wrong either in making such a decision of no hair-cut in this new place. My intial schedule being for less than 3 months, i really might not have reached this stage. But now with almost 3.5 months gone it was time to look for a descent place where i could go with less inhibitions.

I went to the near by mall (that was the only place i knew for a hair-cut). I felt at ease after reaching the saloon. When i sat on the executionary chair, i asked the man to only trim the out of order strings and not to shorten them. He did a good job, except that he made them a little short( thank god i didnt say him to make them short, god knows what he would have done).

Now comes the leaving time and he gave me a receipt for 82 pula, i asked him again is it 8 or 3. i dont know what he would have thought but he replied vey calmly "sir: 8". I showed equal equanimity and gave him P 82. But i knew what i had done. with currency rate of Pula1 > Rs8, i just paid more than Rs650 for a single hair-cut. Trying to figure out the gravity of the situation further, i calculated that even if i go to a better than normal place in bangalore for my hair-cut, pay Rs50 for 1 time, and keep my frequency of once every 2 months(ususal for me), i could have managed a hair-cut for the next 2 years in the same amount.

May be i should have just let my hair cover my ear so that i did not listen to those who had said to me "when are you going to change your hair style".