~ The Haircut that was ~

You often find yourself in situation which makes you think about the world around you – the people living their life with all zeal and facing the heat of their own varied situations.

He came with his young son, who was of playful nature and seem to be have matured before his age deemed so, he made his father sit in the chair as if he was acting as his support system and a guardian angel. As I was comfortably sitting and having a haircut, both father and duo had no choice but to wait for their turn to have a haircut.

Soon the conversation broke out between my hairdresser and the new customer as he asked “How are you sir? And what about your health? What did the reports say?”

With a flurry of questions being bombarded onto him, he was little taken by surprise but he didn’t loose his smiling stance and asked his son to go out a play for  a while – though I felt that this act was on purpose and sensed something was strictly wrong with the man.

As he replied one by one to the questions thus asked by my hairdresser, “ I am otherwise fine, but the reports tell me otherwise, the doctor after having look at the reports and declared its malignant Cancer!” – now this man speak this with a melancholy in his voice… but also with a sheepish smile, as if he had lots to tell and complaint at the Grand Design.

“That’s life!” was his stoppage words before he had tears in his eyes but also balanced his emotions with a smile. As I felt like an unwelcomed listener, I could see and sense a deep sense of melancholy and helplessness in his life.

Suddenly, his son came back thinking so that now it was time to get the haircut done and also to take care of his father – His son had suddenly turned adolescent and a caretaker of his father, realizing  what his father must be going through – as he saw a tinge of sadness and a drop of tear in his father’s eyes, he hugged him and tried to motivate him with all his demeanor – the scene had stopped time for all four of us in that room!

Here was a father who wanted to live and that life had made him confront a situation he was not prepared to tackle – there were responsibilities to be fulfilled but the grand design certainly had other plans for him!

As he spoke again to the barber, “Sir, I have never had smoked a cigarette or have drank liquor, still I am facing this tough problem…. I have an elderly mother of 75 years of age at home and this young son who is in class 7^th, life has just stopped midway for me…!”

As I got up from my seat, with my haircut done, I turned around and tried to give him composure – “Sir, believe in HIS plans, certainly he has planned situations for everyone, may be to teach and sometime reprimand our being – the karma has to be lived and just pray for your goodness and that you should be able to fulfil all the family commitments and responsibilities!”

As I exited the barbershop, the forlorn face of the man was in my thoughts – could life be so unpredictable and this can happen to anyone of us – the randomness of life was my subject of anger and started to question the grand design about what I had just seen!

The quietness of time was all over my being, after some moments of anxiety the calmness took over and the answers started to flow …”Who am I to confront HIM and his HIS plans? …were you born by asking him or has things shaped up according to your will? , these intriguing question had no definitive answers and may be each one of us have to tread a different path to know about thus – as my thoughts subsided, I just put in my prayers for that lovely and simple soul for his betterment and that he should pass this test of time with courage and strength and that his young one and his family remain of steadfast support to this testing hour!