 is working overtime these days as the number of people thronging his saloon is growing by the day. The increase in number, says Shakeel, is due to the new fad created by Sachin Tendulkar.</p> "Pin It")
Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly's new hairdo.
By Amrut Thobbi
Shakeel, the barber who runs a hair-cutting saloon, Shakeel For You in Bandra (West) is working overtime these days as the number of people thronging his saloon is growing by the day. The increase in number, says Shakeel, is due to the new fad created by Sachin Tendulkar.
“Jab se Sachin ye naya hair ishtyle kar waya, log pagal ho gaye hai. Har doosra customer ko Sachin jaisa cut chahaiye”, said Shakeel as he grappled with his scissors on the hair of a Tendulkar fan, a school-going Mumbaikar, while ten other young customers were awaiting their turn to get the new cut.
While Shakeel and the band of barbers in Mumbai are grappling with the mania among the masses to acquire the latest “Tendulkar Cut”, it’s a different rage sweeping Bengal as well. Instead of batting maestro Tendulkar, the people of Bengal are eager to emulate their darling Prince of Kolkata, Sourav Ganguly, whose new looks have caught the imagination of the nation. In fact, a poll conducted in Bengal to find out which hairstyle between Ganguly and Tendulkar looked more stylish, an overwhelming 95% voted in favour of Ganguly. In fact, a heated debate is going on in the social media which of the two cricketers look swankier in their new hairstyles. Fan pages have cropped up on Facebook ‘celebrating’ the new hairstyles of Tendulkar and Ganguly!
But like their counterparts in Mumbai, the barbers in Bengal, too, are bewildered of how to give their customers the “Dada cut”.
When asked about Ganguly’s new hairstyle, Sudipto Sen, who has been running his saloon for three decades in Kolkata’s Park Street, replied: “Upar theke dekhe puro Eden Gardens, er pitch mone hochhe.” (“It looks like an Eden Gardens wicket from the top. Completely flat with no tinge of grass in the middle”).
Vinod Kambli, Tendulkar’s childhood friend, claims this is yet another ploy to make him look ridiculous. “He knows I don’t have any hair left. What does he want to prove? With his records, he keeps on mocking me and now this new hairstyle,” Kambli is reported to have crying to Rajeev Khandewal of “Sach ka Samna” fame.
Rahul Dravid was writing his speech that he is has to deliver at the United Nations when we contacted him for his reactions about the new hairstyle mania that is sweeping the nation. “I have no opinion on the matter. To me what matters is inside the head than what’s there outside. And the only cut that I’m interested in Sachin and Sourav are the cricketing cuts,” Dravid said in his inimitable before focusing on his article.
Now wonder he is cut above the rest!
(Amrut Thobbi, an engineering graduate now pursuing Masters in journalism, is an ardent cricket fan who likes to write spoofs, like the one above. His passion for writing inspired him to give up a sales and marketing job, which he does not regret. By writing on cricket, he wants to relive his dream of becoming a cricketer. He has also worked as a freelance writer in education and technology sectors)
