THE REPRESENTATIVE

By Ankith. As i awaited my turn in front of the barber woman in Kalyanakatta, the events of the last year flashed before my eyes. My sister to my left and my mother on the right looked on with pleased expressions.A girl was getting her hair cut (all of it!). Ninth Standard had finished and we were a few days into the summer holidays when Ranjitha aunty- in her trademark noodlestrap visited home. She was going to visit Tirupati with her daughters after their public exam results as they had done as she expected. She asked my mom "Divya, do you want to come with Ankith and Anvitha?". My mom replied "Would have loved to but Anvitha cannot make it. Do you want to go with aunty Ankith?". She looked in my direction. I was undecided - on one hand i felt lazy and on the other hand, here was a chance to get away from home during vacations. Ranjitha aunty's daughters - Anushree and Jayashree were my age group and it would be a good outing i thought and agreed. "OK we'll leave by car early tomorrow morning" she said. At 4 Am, we bundled into a Duster car and took off. Aunty's driver Shanti was at the wheel. Aunty believed in her lady driver and took her even on long distance travel. We chatted about various topics on the way and inbetween i fell asleep. At 8:30 AM aunty woke us all up as we reached the town of Tirupati. Aunty had booked a hotel in the foothills and we retired to the rooms to refresh. At 9 AM, we were ready to go after a bath. Aunty and her daughters dressed up in a saree and lehenga and i was in my trademark jeans. We all took a spare set of clothes and started our journey uphill. After some time of enjoying the scenery, we landed up in the town. We decided to have some light refreshment and tea/coffee.Looking around, there was at least one shaved head in each group. Anu and Jaya jocularly remarked about this and asked Ranjitha aunty "who will be the representative from our group". Aunty said: " You will look grotesque.Grown girls don't do this unless you have vowed". We found a decent place to eat and ordered some simple snacks and coffee. Our attention was drawn to the conversation in the group next to ours where a boy with a shaved head seemed upset and his mother was telling him "It is a very good pious act to shave your head here. So don't be upset. Lot of good things will happen". Aunty rotated her gaze everywhere as she ate her vada. Then it stopped at me and her expression changed.It was one that reflected many possibilities and hope. She said "i'll just make a phone call and be back". I thought it was something to do with her business and continued to attack my vada. Aunty came back in 5 minutes, gave me an affectionate smile and asked me if i wanted anything more - a dosa perhaps. I opted for some more vada. She asked me if i had wished for something and made some more pleasant conversation. As she finished her last sip of coffee, she asked with a big warm smile :"Ankith, why don't you be our representative?". Jaya and Anu immediately said "Yes that would be best Ankith," with a wide affectionate smile. I did not quite get what she was referring to at first and on recovering from her thunderbolt, gave what i thought was a neutral answer: "Maybe if mom agrees". She asked:"Are you OK with it? we'll see about your mom after that only". After the conversation we overheard, i did not dare to say no. But the possibility of going to school in 10+ days with an almost shaven head did not look good to me.I meekly said "yes, if mom agrees". I was confident that mom might bail me out of this. Aunty said "OK let's ask your mom" and connected a video call in a minute. It appeared that mom and aunty had already discussed this earlier. Aunty started the conversation with "Divya, your blessings required". To my surprise, mom looked at me and said: "Ranjitha aunty has a good point - Get it done smooth and clean". and in a moment, the permission was granted!!. I was now in a daze. I did not know what to say or do."School starts in about 10 days i noted". "15" mom shot back - "enough for it to grow back to some extent." She reassured. Everyone was flashing a wide affectionate smile at me and i managed to smile back. "OK" i surrendered. Mom gave me a thums up and said "way to go. See you then" with a very affectionate smile. In a moment we were headed to the kalyanakatta. Anu and Jaya were all smiles. As i surveyed people headed in that direction, all had hair intact. Looking at people returning in the other direction, i pictured myself in that position in some time - there was at least one "representative" in each group as Jaya and Anu put it. "We will be done in about an hour" Aunty said appearing to read my thoughts or maybe she was planning ahead. "Lucky we took a spare dress" said Jaya. The next few minutes passed in a daze - i remember standing in a queue. Aunty said "let the 3 of us do 3 cuts, thought did not occur to me earlier". Jaya and Anu nodded their heads. "Let's choose a lady for all of us - we'll get done faster". "hope you're OK with it?" she asked me. I was desperately hoping to be bailed out of my predicament and did not think this was so important and nodded yes. She then handed me a blade, that i took mechanically. Then everything moved fast and i found myself in front of a lady who was shaving another customer's head. After she was done, she looked up and surveyed us. She appeared to be a jovial person. She said with a smile pointing to aunty, Anu, Jaya " 3 cuts, 3 cuts, 3 cuts" and looking at me she was beaming as she said - "full cut" - right?. Aunty and her daughters laughed and made some small talk and she suggested that i go last. She beckoned Ranjitha aunty to wet my head. Aunty, Jaya and Anu took turns to do so. Meanwhile, Aunty, Anu & Jaya offered 3 cuts and got up and it was my turn. I was desperately hoping for a miracle. Aunty said "His mother advised him to get it done completely smooth". I sat there. The lady bent and massaged my head gently with her fingers and said "say Govingda Govinda". I prayed to the Lord for a miracle. She said as she showed me the blade that she fixed: "Don't worry, this razor shave is smooth shave. Nothing more needed. It cuts at the base". The massaging stopped and i thought that God had heeded my prayers. There was a moment of silence as i could feel her concentrate. Then i felt something ticklish on my shoulders. I did not have my shirt on of course. But i continued praying to God as he was my sole savior now. There was a little conversation about some hair being left, that i did not pay attention to. Then she tilted my head sideways and i could feel some more hair fall from the sides on my lap. I could see aunty recording the whole thing and Anu and Jaya flashing an affectionate (not teasing) smile. Now i knew that there was not much hope and resigned myself to my fate. She then paused and then positioned my head straight. I could feel a cool breeze and felt calm. I closed my eyes when i felt the razor on my scalp. This lasted for 2-3 minutes. It was a pleasurable experience and i had little to complain about. She then asked to apply sandalwood paste. As aunty applied sandalwood paste on my head, she said - "the top seems to have a few rough spots?". The lady replied: "That is scalp hair madam - it's impossible to shave that without damaging the scalp." As we walked out, aunty made it a point for us to pass near the mirror where she smiled affectionately and i smiled back through the mirror. i took a good look at my head too. Then Jaya said : " Seems Ankith has a pony tail now?" Aunty said : "That is tradition dear, in olden days it was the norm to leave a shikha. There used to be more hair but as the lady said - she will keep it such that should Ankith decide to do away with it, he can just use scissors". Jaya and Anu said with affectionate warmth "Let our representative walk in front" and i led the group. Now people had started noticing and admiring us. Shanti was waiting to take us back. She broke into a warm smile too on seeing me and ran her hand over my shaved head saying "Nice smooth feel". For the first time now, i could feel the air over my head and it felt nice. There is something about women and their response to a boy's freshly shaven look. The universal reaction is one of affection and protection and admiration and warmth and very hard to miss. I changed my dress and we had darshan. I led our group as we had the darshan :).Then got back in the car by around 5 PM and started our drive back from the hotel room. We planned to reach home late at night. As i caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror, i felt a bit awkward for the first time running my hand over my smooth head twice. I was glad we were reaching at night. Perhaps Ranjitha aunty sensed my awkwardness and started a conversation. The conversation in the car was a good engaging one. I sat sandwiched between Anu and Jaya and aunty was in the front seat. We started with A/C but aunty insisted on switching off the A/C and allowing some fresh air in. The cool air blowing over my head was a very nice feeling. Aunty caught sight of that and said "Someone is enjoying the breeze it looks like". Anu then touched my head and said "but seems the head is hot?". My head was indeed hot and i did not know why. "all the heat must now be escaping" Jaya guessed. Shanti said "No no. The hair was removed using a razor. It did not pain but then the roots feel attacked and now are reacting. This will remain for some time. No harm". This was a good learning for me. She then stopped by the side and gave me a piece of aloe vera. "I keep some of this always with me- helps in cuts and bruises sometimes. Apply this on your head". Jaya grabbed it and applied it all over my head. Checking the temperature to confirm. I must confirm i liked the cool feeling that came. We drove on and aunty asked for the car to stop. There was a shop with some caps hung. She asked me if i wanted one. She had a look of guilt as she made the offer. I reassured her that i was comfortable and liked the freedom and after some thought said no. Shanti said : "Do you feel like a small current moving all over your head?" I nodded - i was actually enjoying this sensation. She smiled and said : "Your hair follicles are enjoying their new found freedom". This helped put things in perspective. She and aunty smiled as Shanti said "Must be feeling like all his hair just flew away". We packed our bags in the hotel and headed back. We reached home late at night. I was dropped off at the gate and rang the doorbell. The door opened and Mom welcomed me warmly. Ranjitha aunty said "Divya thanks for your cooperation and sorry for the surprise". Mom replied "No surprise, this was a good initiative. I should in fact thank you for taking the initiative." and proceeded to rub my head. She too had some aloe vera. After i washed up, she applied some coconut oil on my head. "When your scalp/head is dry, apply coconut oil. I've kept a big container of coconut oil in the kitchen" she said. I was surprised to see the head absorb so much coconut oil. Next day, in the evening we had a visitor - It was Ranjitha aunty. She came in and got a warm welcome. After the initial pleasantries, she said -"sorry, you must have been surprised - look what the trip ended up as for your son". Mom said "Not at all, this is good rehearsal for next year - When he entered 10th standard, i had prayed that if he gets real good results We will visit the same place after his exams and get his head shaved then.. Maybe God has granted that." Aunty heaved a sigh of relief and looked in my direction. By now, i was happy with my shaved head and did not feel conscious. She said :" Thank you so much. It's always good to do things as per tradition. Thanks Ankith for cooperating". She gave me a T shirt that i really looked handsome in. She shared the video recording of my headshave with mom. Meanwhile the girl got up and it was my turn now.