Saturday, May 20, 2006

The Pride of a Man !

The tuft of hair that adorns the upper lip of men is often debated to be the highest echelons of Pride in him. No doubt it is, and will be for ages to come. Of what else can a man be identified more, than this beauty of a god’s creation that sits candidly on his lip and hangs around him equally in times of elation and distress?

What a pen means to a paper, an icing means to a cake, a stereo to a dash board, and a key to a safe? So is also Man’s beauty, which is incomplete without this phenomenon known as a Moustache. Hairs and the government come and fall, skin and the trees wrinkles, memory and friends die, relations and beliefs break, jobs and money are lost, the woman leaves, children forget, times fly but the Moustache clings on to the man till he dies. And all this without a thing sought in return except an occasional trim here and a whisk there. This dogged persistence through ages and the humble part it plays in enriching a Man’s appeal makes it the object of pride and possession. Without doubt.

The women with the clichéd rant that the tache of a Man is a bottleneck to the second best thing their lips are made for, are vehemently selfish. How they would like a man to do away with his lifetime possession for a momentary bliss is beyond belief. It is strange but true that they do admire their father and grandpa who sport one, but when it comes to their love interest the views are the opposite. Now the ladies may argue why the king of hearts is the only one without moustache and what makes him the “King of hearts” different from the rest. Well, they do not realize the difference between a man in flesh and blood with his golden heart and a sincere moustache and the hearts of a pack of filthy cards designed to gamble the last blood of him. Reprehensible.

Mahatma Gandhi, Adolf Hitler, Charlie Chaplin, Nietzsche and Einstein are a few names to reckon when it comes to this debate. Some of these great men are known for their distinct styles of moustache. Can one imagine an Einstein or a Nietzsche without his moustache at any point of their lives? Never.
Some of my personal favourites are the handlebar sported by Mangal Pandey(that I would have loved to wear if not for this hard and cruel corporate world that mocks anything which is out of the league and draws attention) and the Nosebeard sported by a young Einstein (and which I sport now). Apart from this the other styles worth a praise are the Walrus(Nietzsche) and the toothbrush(Hitler and Chalpin). Some of the other common ones are the Pencil(looks like a draw with a pencil) and the Manchu (flowing like a stream down the sides and long like the roots of a banyan). Incredible aura.




There are several advantages other than to embellish a Man’s look. The mouth is guarded from a perennially running nose or tears flowing the cheeks (yes, the strongest of men do cry), a baby in arms gets the pleasure of playing with it and a heart warming tickle in the cheeks when kissed (one does always see the jubilation on the face of the baby when this happens). It is a neighbour’s envy (who does not own one) and the owner’s pride. Beep -> Some men have a better source to play with and caress at leisure <- Beep. The list goes on and will require a book to do justice.

This aura and pride will continue with mankind as long as noble and great men will choose to take this legacy of growing a moustache and teach the generations to come of its virtues. Long live such men and their legacy!