I'm sure some scholarly research on life cycle of a moustache is available - must google for it someday. We do see a lot of men worry
about the hair on their head and how to keep their hair from premature baldness
or greying. I’m reasonably endowed in that respect and it’s only the last year
or so that I’ve noticed some greying alongside the ears. However, it’s my
moustache that I have a grievance with.
Several of my schoolmates had
their first moustache around the age of 13. I waited, hoping that I’ll get mine
by the time I get to 15. I went to senior school, passed through, still no
signs of a moustache, and I waited. Into college and several friends of that
age group were already looking like my uncles – still my moustache hardly broke
through although there were some first signs. Post-graduation, as I enrolled
for my CA into a well-known firm for my articleship and had to visit large
corporates who were their clients, I desperately wanted one; still no development. At social events, people would exclaim 'Innum meesai molakkalai...' (no translation would do justice). It wasn’t until I was well past 23 that the
moustache actually developed into its own and I felt really great buying my
first shaving cream and razor and the first harvest was almost a festival. It was almost as though I'd conquered a stigma.
A few years later, I chanced upon
a photograph of myself taken when I was in high school and felt I looked really
good without the moustache back then.
One fine morning, the razor went over the moustache and I came out nice
and clean. The wife and kids looked askance, but didn’t volunteer an opinion. I
carried onto office as though nothing had happened. When I got there and took
my seat, a female colleague rushed in worried and exclaimed, “Hey, what
happened?” (In traditional circles, it’s customary to remove the moustache when
some one’s mourning). I hastened to assure her that it’s just my new look. “Not good, lah”,
she labored, “your face demands a moustache !”
Bowing to economics, I quickly worked on getting the moustache back on
and have retained it ever since.
Once a week, I try and make sure
that the moustache is trimmed and even. I’ve noticed dad does that everyday,
but for me, once a week was good enough. Imagine the horror, when I discovered
a single strand of grey hair amongst the thick black crop over the upper lip, not so long ago. I
pulled out the scissors and clipped it out. When things begin to go wrong, they
have a tendency to go the whole hog and the moustache is no exception. The greying of the moustache
quickly doubled and multiplied and now the weekly clipping of the grey strands
is threatening to leave large gaps in the upper lip. It certainly looks
ungainly if you leave it unattended. The ultimate insult was when the
hairdresser offered to dye the moustache first (in precedence to the greying hair on the head)claiming that I otherwise still
looked reasonably young. It’s not that bad, I assured him; concerned that
dyeing the moustache would actually accelerate the degenerative process.
How could the active life of my moustache
last only 15 years; it arrived late, threatens to wear off early? How unfair ! Yes,
I consoled myself, my face demands a moustache. But it’s the supply side that’s
disconcerting. At this rate, I may have
to opt for a nice and clean do, for all my life. Alas, economic theory can
help very little in keeping up with this demand even at an incremental price !
I'm sure many of my facebook friends would pitch in with their woes on this subject...
