A Hair In My Opulence

Not necessarily like Neo from the Matrix, but every now and then, I feel like I am singled out. Not by god or dog, or by the Machine, and certainly not for liberation of something or someone. If anything, it is frustrating. Let me elaborate.

During my latter half of stay in London, often times when the beauty living with us two beasts cooked Indian food, she would use whole green chillies to flavour the food. She would usually remove them but sometimes, some got left in. And when we were eating, all those whole chillies would somehow always make their way to ladle just when it was pouring contents in my plate. And I would usually discover them when I tasted fire in my mouth.

Chillies are still alright, at the end of the day. At least they are food. But I don't feel quite the same way about hair. Especially hair that is not mine or of someone whose hair I wouldn't mind having in my mouth even otherwise. And it rankles all the more when it turns up in places otherwise impeccable, such as the Oberoi UdaiVilas where I spent 3 magnificent days soaking in the opulence.

Before that though, we went for lunch at a restaurant called 1559 AD. We had dined there the previous evening and besides the great food, we were also very pleased with the friendliness of the staff. So our expectations were as such, and when I pointed out the hair in my food to the waiter, I was told that the hair must be my own! Of course, being comparatively used to, as I am, to hair in my food, I put aside the strand and continued eating, only to be interrupted by another waiter who quickly whisked the hair away, and suddenly, the incident never happened!

That is perhaps precisely why I kept laughing in indignant disbelief when I found yet another strand, this time during breakfast at the Oberoi, and inside a block of butter at that. In the middle of those lush, luxurious, beautiful, serene, almost unreal surroundings, it was a harsh reminder of the omnipresence of both human folly and human hair, and of course, also a fresh gust of feeling singled out.

But the holiday itself was superb. I was slightly apprehensive about how it would turn out, but it turned out really well. And I can't thank her enough for it. Even with her faults, she is still the best and will always occupy that spot bang in the centre of my atria and ventricles. It is a pity that this was the last vacation I will have with her. No one is more fun. But I am glad we did this together.