Reena's Salon

The concept of salons, today, has changed quite a bit from the one that existed sometime back. Today, the salon business has become way more professional. Initially, salons were mostly home-based. Women who were passionate about grooming and styling and who had done a course in the same would decide to convert a section of their homes into a salon. And they were known to be popular only among people belonging to well-off families. I always enjoyed visiting those cozy looking salons where 'Only For Ladies' was very clearly highlighted. As a child who accompanied her mother, looking at the women around getting groomed, somehow, made me form a perception that all the ladies would be headed straight to a kitty party from the salon.

Reena's Salon is a salon located in Ghatkopar, Mumbai. It reminds me of the salons that existed some twenty years ago. Recently, the salon got revamped and all the latest equipments integral to a grooming salon were installed. What remains intact is the constant buzzing of the girls working there, sometimes keeping the clients entertained with personal stories and anecdotes, and at other times, arguing and indulging in funny fights with their owner, Reena. The equation between Reena and her employees looks like everything but a professional one. Those who don't know these women would be totally amazed to see the bond they share.

There is a television screen right at the entrance playing a Hindi soap to soothe the high octane drama that goes on in the salon during other times. While Reena is totally engrossed in watching the soap, one of the girls named Priya goes up to her saying, ''Aunty hand-shower mein garam paani kaise laate hai?'' Since Reena has her eyes fixed on the television screen, she does not reply. Two minutes later, totally distracted, Reena gets up from the couch to help Priya out. She complains to me how Priya and Rani, both her assistants have been disturbing her all through the day and how they have not even let her have a good chat with her daughter, who has come to visit her in the salon. I don't give a reaction and immediately turn to another client sitting beside me, who cannot stop smiling. Reena tells me that all her clients are used to her nature and style of functioning. The atmosphere is so informal and unpretentious that I feel they hate being professionals in a way that would force them to put on a mask and behave in a certain fashion. Suddenly, Reena points to a new baby shower that they have installed and happily talks about how she is expecting baby clients to start pouring in the salon, soon. Reena has managed to adjust the shower to hot water. She is teased by Priya for taking a lot of time to understand the working of the shower. Reena laughs away. And this time, even I cannot stop laughing. There have been certain instances in my life which have resonated so well with me that they fail to get out of my mind. My visit to this salon has been one such instance. At times when you don't feel anything, the atmosphere conspires to play on your psyche.

As I was getting ready to leave, I heard Reena losing her mind when she saw that the cap on a bottle of nail paint was not fitted well. When she enquired to know who was at fault, I, standing in a corner, mentally reached out to the one who would be at the receiving end of Reena's anger. In a fit of rage, the mistake-doer was given a piece of her mind and also a lesson in fitting caps on bottles along with a punch in the arm, like a mother would scold her tough-to-deal-with child. I was escorted to the exit. And all I was thinking was how a person like Reena, who was a boss, a mother and someone who was catering to the requirements of her clients and, not to forget, a television addict, all at the same time, managed to find absolute consistency in her approach towards all that she juggled, without any apprehensions. The dogs who greeted me on my way out were all over me and didn't see a stranger in me. I guess, Reena forgot to mention that even the dogs in the society were so used to her that, everyone maintained uniformity in their behavior in and around Reena's Salon.

Every ride on the streets of Mumbai

The city of Mumbai is a glorified one. There are various connotations used to define the city, with some of the most famous ones being, 'The city that never sleeps', 'The city of dreams' and 'The heart of India' among others. And how about 'The city which has redefined traffic?' Although the Mumbai traffic may not officially find a place amidst its other well known facts, one can certainly not consider Mumbai without thinking about the vehicular congestion that encapsulates the city.
Every conversation about Mumbai that inadvertently highlights its traffic scenario....

Person X: Where are you planning to go for your postgraduate studies?

Person Y: Umm.... I have shortlisted Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Mumbai which offer the course I want to specialise in. But Mumbai seems like the most ideal option. I'm almost on the verge of finalising a college in Mumbai. Even though Mumbai is a little more expensive than the rest of the cities, in the end it is the 'It' city.

Person X: Okay, but do you know....

Person Y: You have been living in Mumbai for quite sometime now and I'm sure once you have lived in Mumbai you would never want to live anywhere else. Right?

Person X: Before coming to Mumbai, even I had painted an idealistic picture of the city. No doubt, everything is good except for the city's roads and its traffic, which make me want to have wings. People in Mumbai who travel long distances everyday spend half their lives traveling. A place that should usually take 10 minutes to reach takes 30-40 minutes in this city's traffic. What does one do with all the money in the world when time is more precious than money?

Person Y: Oh really? I never knew the situation would be so bad.

Person X: You bet!

The traffic graph is on a rise, so much so that an active Mumbaikar gets to enjoy ample alone time while driving. Ideally, from the time a person starts his day till the time he reports to work, all his to-do things must be checked off. Right from walking upto the car which is parked in a distant corner due to space constraints that helps burn calories to making all the important and I-shall-be-late-due-to-traffic calls to taking glances at the newspaper when at the red light to doing good karma by helping eunuchs and street urchins with some money while stuck in traffic, a car ride in Mumbai is wholesome in all respects. If that is not enough, the alone time you get coupled with good music in the background can bail you out of any and every worry-that-be. If all of this is not enough, there is also a great deal of work that needs to be carried out on the social media front. There are always some pending Facebook updates that need to be checked along with equal number of posts to be liked and commented upon. And if you are looking presentable enough for a selfie, an Instagram upload is definitely a good idea. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but in today's day and age, if you have a smart phone with good internet connectivity then you are never alone. C'mon, what can you not do with that smartphone? Pun intended.

The other set of people who take local buses to travel have their own stories to tell. Imagine getting on a crowded bus with barely any place to stand and involuntarily having to smell the armpits of the passengers around and being at the receiving end of taunts and frustration from the bus conductor every time you fail to produce the exact money for the ticket! If one ever manages to get a window seat on a bus and if there is a long ride that awaits, then sleep can never avoid him/her. Because nothing is more familiar than a bumpy ride combined with chaos all around, which makes every Mumbaikar feel at home.