"Hair-raising" experince

It was one of those monthly Sunday mornings when it was time to whittle down my growing mane - little did i realise that it would be a "hair-raising" experience rather than a "hair-cutting" one. By virtue of having thick and unmanageable hair, this has led me to change hair stylists frequently in my quest for someone better. For the past two years though, I have settled for Park Sheraton despite the inhibitive and spiralling costs at the hotel's salon (and not to forget the tips to the barber and the valet driver) for two main reasons - excellent service and the chance to share the chair along with some VVIP. But the former reasonn was propelling me now to make the change.

It was the day after Pongal and I was waiting for my turn (you could gain entry only with an appointment to cut the hair..hmmm...times have changed). Out of the blue, Ashok questioned me, "Enna sir, thalai pongaluku oorukku pogaliya? (What sir...for first pongal after marriage you are not visiting your wife's place as per tradition?)...He actually remembered that it was the first pongal after marriage (a seven-month old incident) and that my wife Suchitra's place was Vellore. Stunned at this experience, I swore to never think of shifting ...After all, I was at the receiving end of a customer-delighting experience