Came home from work last week, think it was a thursday. Thursdays are usually very busy days at work and I usually come home in zombie mode.
The little one came running when I opened the door, and as usual banged into my crotch. With a yelp, trying to conceal the pain and still showing extreme happiness at seeing her, I picked her up. My face must have resembled that Malayalam actor, who is capable of showing two different emotions at once, on his left and right side of his face!
Picked her up, went into the kitchen and saw San washing dishes. She had her hair clip way up high and her hair was falling down on either side of her face, giving her a poodle-ish appearence. Thinking, " Oh, Poor thing must have just had a bath and no time to even dry her hair properly" I focused on other things that were on my mind.
My stomach was making the usual rumbling noises and I picked up some stuff from the countertop, started eating and the following conversation started.
San : "so how is it?"
Me : very tasty!
San : so you didn't notice anything ?
Me : The salt and chilli are perfect. No.. nothing! Very tasty actually. Your mom outdid herself this time.
and the conversation was left off..
A few minutes later, Jr. walks to me and says "Mom had a haircut!"
I then put two and two together and went to San and said "I did see that there was something wrong with the way you put that clip all the way up there, but didn't want to make a big deal out of it!"
After being surrounded by women and being hailed as a ladies man, I must really be going through some kind of midlife crisis. Oh, the folly! The folly, of making such a comment..
For those men out there who come home hungry and get generic questions like "so, how is it?", I will spare you the trouble of finding out certain things the hard way.
When you get such questions, always switch the light (or all the lights) ON, take a good look at your wife and notice :
1. hair
a. length - even if short by a few millimeters
b. color - a few hair may be red or brown (she has done some henna work)
c. texture - if they are swaying in the breeze from the exhaust fan, some other hair work has been done..
d. parting - it could be center today and side tomorrow..
2. eyes - notice sharp eyebrow lines (must have threaded it!)
3. New Jewelry - any subtle changes (this includes "did you see how the pendant has 1263 stones instead of the 1262? I like it!")
4. Facials, handials,legials - (you may have to go behind her, give her a hug and touch her arms in an attempt to see local surface roughness changes. With practice, you can actually compete with the best in class Atom Force Microscopes, when the time is right).
5. New clothes, any colored threads she has tied in her hand aka Rakhi style, or after a viratham (vrath) etc.
5. Weight loss - this cannot be noticed, considering you see your spouse everyday, but you should be able to perceive a constant weight loss. This might violate all laws of conservation, but it does not violate the "law of conserving yourself".
I am glad to say that after a week, I have sincerely (yes, my wife can detect my % sincerity to the 5th decimal place) agreed that her new hairstyle has grown on me. Told her that it is an acquired taste and now I am fully used to her new hairstyle. Hell, I even like it.
I could have saved myself the trouble if I had instantly liked it, but the past, as they say, is past!
Now that Jr. and the little one know, how I get treated when misreading appearance changes, they come to me and go "How do I look?", after every dressing session.
In case you didn't know, the default answer is "Pretty as a princess!"
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