Monday, June 06, 2005

Hairy Tales

George was born bald. In fact most of the children are born like that. But when little George celebrated his first birthday with his head not showing any signs of vegetation, it was a cause of concern to his parents. In the photos taken during his second birthday, George stood out among the children; with exactly five long hairs on his fore-head as the differentiating factor. Eventually, their son having a full fledged hair turned out to be the wildest of the dreams for his parents.

Right from the time he realized that there is something called hair which grow on one's head, it was a reason for worry to George. It was this hair, rather hair-less-ness, that turned him to an introvert, right from his school days. He was always concerned about his hair and did his best to find some bushy thing, up and running on his head. During his teen-age, George believed that hair was the first thing a girl look in a man.

When George passed tenth grade the density of his hair became almost similar to the density of population of Siberia. His hair population could be best represented by a normal distribution. The peak happened when he was doing his graduation and has shown a decreasing trend when he finished graduation and started working for a manufacturing company. He became partially bald. The concern grew on him when he was nearing the age of his marriage.

It was during this time that George read in a newspaper about a technique called hair transplantation where in hair from some other part of his head would be transplanted to the upper part. He decided to try his luck on that. He applied for a housing loan to pay for the surgery. After consultation with the doctor, he eagerly waited for the D-day, the day on which the transplantation was scheduled.

Days went like centuries for him and at last the particular day arrived. George was escorted by a group of beautiful nurses to the altar of plastic surgery, the operation theatre. The nurses fenced the boundaries of his existing hair with needles, giving sort of anesthetia. If it wasn't for his hair, George definitely would not have entered into such a place and suffered such a pain. When pain filled his eyes, through the tears he saw the nurses around him with some mischievous smile in their lips. He doubted whether they were making fun of him. The doctor started ripping off hair from his lower head and planting it on his forehead. "We want exactly 1250 hairs with the root", the doctor said. George was wondering whether something would be left out at his lower head after the removal.

The three hour long, painful surgery was over and when George got discharged, the doctor said. "Take care of the hair as if they are your children. Don't show it sunlight or water for a few days." The doctor also gave him a cap to serve this purpose. The cap read "Under Construction" on its front.

The implanted hair grew like a wheat field served unprecedented with fresh water supply and chemical fertilizer. It fluttered in breeze and George moved his head a little bit in tandem, to accelerate the movement. He was feeling himself on top of the world.

With this new vigor, George's marriage was fixed. He got engaged to a beautiful girl from an orthodox high class family, having very long hair, as he dreamt.

His marriage date was nearing and George realized something peculiar happening on his lower head. The place where there was hair before and from where 1250 hairs were removed for transplantation was showing plain head beneath.

It took only a week for the hairs at his lower head to clear off their way for the scalp. And George's head resembled that of the 7-UP mascot with hair only on the top-most part of his head. George was upset. He doubted whether his marriage will happen.

In the next few days, George shut himself in his room. He was feeling reluctant to face the bride during the marriage. After thinking a lot, he decided to write a letter to the bride quoting all the incidents. Some how he was feeling that things were going out of control.

His fiancee called George on a morning. She wanted to meet him some where. At last George decided to show himself up. They met over lunch at a hotel. She dressed herself well and her hair was as beautiful and long as it was.

The moment they settled themselves, the bride said. "I want to give you a surprise". And she gave a gentle pull to her hair. It came off! It was an artificial hair! George saw a normal boyish-cut girl on his front. And she continued, "I liked you the moment I saw your photograph. But your demand for marrying a girl with long hair was too much. I put this wig on my head when you came to see me. I wanted to tell you these, but you were so excited and I didn't want to change that. I also feared that I may lose you. It is not the external appearance that make people love each other."

For the first time ever, George was feeling relaxed. Their marriage happened as planned. And they lived happily ever after :-))