Parlour Parlance

It should be a treat to go to a beauty parlour (ugh, what a name) to get a facial, a pedicure or a haircut, but I always postpone the visit as far as possible.

You could be a genius at your software job or be the managing director of a company but when you step into a parlour you're under scrutiny. Are you dressed appropriately? Are your toenails painted a cool colour? Is your hair shiny, bouncy and thick?

Obviously, you'd think, that's the reason you've gone to the place--they're in the business of making their customers look better. Right, but this scrutiny is done on their own, not on your request. They do it, the women who work at the parlour. The women who will talk to you in English and talk amongst themselves in Kannada or Tamil, as if you can't understand.

It is in a rare parlour that you will find your work done in a peacable silence, maybe even with music in the background. In most of them there is constant gossip among the girls working there, and in the worse ones you will be sucked up in the gossip yourself--told about this-one-and-that and asked for details about others, like it or not, unless you're willing to be rude and refuse--and risk a bad job done on you.

These girls, often poorly or moderately educated, will be well "maintained" - waxed, bleached, painted and styled - almost furniture jargon, eh? So they'll make personal comments on you.

Getting your face bleached? She will say, "You have a lot of facial hair, see..."

Getting waxing done? The comment: "Have you been shaving? Your hair is very thick."

Haircut: "You have dandruff." "You have grey hair." "Your hair is very thin."

Whatever part of you is being worked upon, you will be told its features and faults.

If I have dandruff, I know it; how do I benefit by being told this piece of information anew? How does SHE benefit? If she were to say, "You have dandruff, we have this treatment that could help you" it's clear we both gain, but it will never be said this way.

Does anyone like being told these things? Do the parlour girls think that by making these observations we, customers, will jump up and take our hats off to their knowledge?

More likely, we'll never go back to them again. Instead another parlour, another comment, another, another....