Hair

I am addicted to Masterchef Australia, and am so sad that  its gonna end today L

So I thought I would write a post inspired by Masterchef.  As everyone knows, the universal sign for the chef profession is that long hat they wear. I remember seeing it for the first time in Richie Rich comics – Chef Pierre used to wear it. Later I saw in the ads and banners of many restaurants – a smiling guy wearing that damn stupid hat. 

‘Why do they wear it ?’ I asked my mom

‘It’s to prevent their hair from falling in the food dear’ she told me.

Oh. But why such a tall hat? I wondered...wouldn’t it be easier to wear a normal cap or something? And now you do see a lot of chefs wearing plastic hair nets, or Hayden wearing a baseball cap.

And with good reason too. Seeing a hair in your food, or much worse, finding one in your mouth is the most disgusting experience. Ugh. You are chomping on some succulent food, and suddenly you feel a foreign object in your mouth. You play with it with your tongue, and find that it is a hair! Yech. Then you pull out a long strand from your mouth and throw it out and glare at the cook, who shrivels in shame. You sit there and wonder whether to puke, or get up from the table in disgust and just shrug and carry on eating.  I know people in each category.

In fact, finding stray hairs anywhere is a disgusting experience. You pick up the wife’s comb to run through your hair, and recoil on seeing her long strands caught in it. You see it lying on the floor and it’s disgusting – you turn to berate the person who is supposed to sweep it up. Hairs which clog the bathroom drain are even worse.

Hair! Ugh!

But isn’t it strange?

 That same hair, when it was attached to the scalp, was the most beautiful thing.  It was one the most beautiful attributes of the wife’s beauty. You ran your fingers through it and caressed the satin like threads, you smelt the hair after a shampoo, and bought strands of flowers to adorn those dark tresses. Hair neatly oiled and combed were a sign of culture and civilisation, hair kept loose were erotic and alluring. Nothing but the best oils, shampoos and conditioners were good enough for that hair.

But now that it is separated from the body -  it’s a disgusting thing. It makes you shudder.

Why?

When I thought about it, I realised that this applies to all things. The love you flourish on something which is a part of your system, turns to an equal amount of disgust when it is separated from the system.

The food and drink which you so lovingly prepared and ate, enjoying all aspects of look, feel, smell and taste, evoke disgust when they exit your body as shit and piss.

The hair you lose, the skin which is shed, the sweat that is lost, even the air you breathe out – all of it is seen as disgusting, and something to loathe.

And not just in your bodily system, even in a social or political system. Someone you have purged from your system is seen as something to be avoided and repelled.

Organisations  actively hate ex employees – especially victims of sacking or layoffs. They are not allowed to come inside the office or interact with the current employees. They are treated as scum.

You would hate an ex partner – an old spouse or girl/boy friend -  with a passion. The bitter relations of divorcees are legendary.

Even in society, the worst punishment that can be imposed is to make someone a pariah – cut him off from the social structure. He/ she becomes a waste product, and something to be avoided at all costs.

A person who used to be a friend, and with whom you have had a falling out – is more reviled and hated than any other enemy.

This is not something natural – nature is a circle, and all that is blooming today will become waste tomorrow, become fertiliser, get absorbed back into the system and the day after tomorrow again be a part of the blooming tree.

If you were wondering what is the point of this rambling write up – that is it.

Don’t hate things illogically – don’t cringe at stray hairs and don’t hate people you have fallen out of relationships with.

If you have ever hated someone, just think of a chef’s silly  hat, think of a girl’s beautiful hair, think of  a hair in your food and smile.