It
is not only his batting skill, but Team India star batsman-cum-wicket
keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni's long tresses too, hog headlines
and fascinate celebrities and commoners alike. So much
so, that Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf praised
Dhoni's flowing locks, and asked him not to crop them.
Something
tells me that Mahi would not have been a big hit or so
well turned up, had he sported a beard as his predecessors
Syed Kirmani and Gundappa Vishwanath did.
In
fact, he would have had a trying time in keeping his beard
in shape in Ranchi, which, despite having many men's parlours
and salons, lacks quality beard trimmers.
However,
as an optimistic I seek hope in the city's bearded men
now. The bearded BJP neta Ravindra Rai, an "alter
ego" of Babulal Marandi, has embarked on a "mission"
with a martyr's zeal to "change the system".
I hope Rai has a stronger say in the "new system"
and ensures better trimmers in new-look Ranchi that Marandi
had conceptualised.
Ranchi
offers luxurious parlours like Man Mark on Kanke Road,
Roop and Kaya on the Main Road, where charges for hair
dressing and other facilities begin from Rs 50 and go
beyond Rs 500. Then, there are economy parlours like Denim
on Kutchery Road and Paradise at Lalpur. Besides, all
the colonies have their share of big or small parlours.
Many of them enjoy a pretty good reputation when it comes
to hair dressing. But few of them have a beard trimmer.
In
fact, the city becomes a veritable nightmare for bearded
men, like me. To get to the bottom of the prickly problem,
I decided to investigate.
After
a great deal of legwork, I discovered a talented beard
trimmer in Qayum in a regular salon in Bariatu. But, as
luck would have it, Qayum left for Chhatisgarh and better
wages, leaving many truly despondent. It was then that
I learnt that Man Mark has a good trimmer. In fact, rumour
has it an editor of a popular Hindi daily, who is very
particular about his hair, visits Man Mark. But ordinary
folks, like me, find Man Mark too expensive to frequent.
I
wonder why is the city not endowed with quality beard
trimmers? After all, many modern day icons like Salman
Rushdie, Prakash Jha, Vir Sanghvi and leaders, like Chandrashekhar
and Nitish Kumar, sport beards. The state, too, has its
share of bearded netas in Upendra Nath Das and Ravindra
Rai. Senior IAS officer A.K. Sarkar, too, loves to flaunt
his shapely beard. Is it so hard to trim beards? Why do
the city parlours, where quality hair dressers and face
masseurs are dime a dozen, do not have worthy trimmers?
Replying
to these queries Qayum once told me: "It is hard
to trim beards perfectly. You can conceal your errors
in hair dressing. But it is tough to hide inaccuracy while
trimming beards. There's little room for faux pass."
"Moreover," says Iftikhar of Paradyse, "despite
resorting to much caution, beard trimming does not fetch
us as much money, as hair dressing does. Thus, many barbers
don't want to learn this less-profitable but difficult
art". He added that there are two methods employed
in beard trimming. There is a conventional one, where
a hairdresser uses scissors and combs. Another system
employs electric machines. But machines have a tendency
to develop snags, discouraging salons from keeping them.
So,
summing up, this much is clear: if you love to keep stylish
tresses like Mahi, John Abraham and so on, you have plenty
of choices in Ranchi. But god forbid, if you want to look
like Salman Rushdie, Chandrashekhar or Vir Sanghvi, you
are in for a hair-raising trouble of trying to find the
"right" place.
Keeping
beards is an age-old practice. Even Mohenjodaro men sported
beards as is evident from the remains and stone carvings.
Our icons Gurudev Ravindranath Tagore and Mirza Ghalib
sported beards. Many Jharkhand leaders like Bagun Sumbrui
and Shibu Soren sport beards. But Baguns and Shibus don't
care much for their beards and revel in the disheveled
look.
Of
late, keeping beard has become a trend. Therefore, unlike
Bagun Sumbrui and Shibu Soren, Ravindra Rai, A.K. Sarkar
and Upendra Nath Das, love to keep their beards in fashionable
trim. I wish Ranchi gets netas and sahebs - like them
- who can take care of other bearded citizens and deliver
us to more trimmed and shapely days
