I was in for a shock when I called my salon to book an appointment for a haircut. I was told that the guy who had been doing it since past 3-4 years has left. 'This is a disaster!' was my first thought. It is very difficult, if not downright impossible, to find a good hair stylist. Mine had helped me a lot in increasing the length of my hair. 'I used to have waist-length hair a few years back. I cut it short for easier maintenance. But I want to grow it back again.' I had said sadly. 'It will take some time madam' he had remarked matter-of-factly. I don't know how he did it but within a couple of years I was sporting shoulder-length hair. Of course, every time I went for a trimming session I never tired of giving him 2 instructions - don't cut it short and don't straighten it while drying. I rather suspect that these stylists look upon hair as their personal enemy and start attacking it the moment they get their hands on their client's head :-)

Okay, back to the present tense. 'Who else have you got?' I asked in my best 'the-show-must-go-on' voice. The lady in charge of taking appointments recited a list of names of strangers. 'I want someone who has got a good amount of experience' I was firm. 'Madam, all our stylists are experienced' the receptionist piped up. 'Yeah, right!' I muttered. Now it was simply a matter of "eeny meeny miny moe". But I had a better idea. 'I want the first appointment on Sunday. Who have you got?'. The list had got whittled down to just 2 names - one of which was a male. So I chose the female stylist. And left the rest in God's loving hands.

On Sunday, I made my way to the salon with some trepidation, wondering what my head was going to look like on my way out. But the stylist seemed to know what she was doing. When she was done, my hair, instead of its usual habit of turning every strand in a different direction, looked like it belonged to the head of only one human being. An impressive feat indeed!

So, it looks like I am going to be okay.