Benjamin and I decided to have a haircut in Varanassi. Our wonderful home stay host had identified a suitable barber at the 'Cut and Curl saloon'. The barber's lack of English was no problem as we could identify our cut of choice by pointing at a photo card. We started by watching a few cuts and shaves before we had the courage to join the queue. My turn was first. All went well and my cut resembled the picture on the card so we were all feeling confident. The TV was switched on now and one of the Matrix films was providing a backdrop to the events. Things developed quickly, no doubt inspired by the action in the film and fueled by the effects of paan which was consumed by both our barbers. Benjamin's haircut did not go as planned as more hair was cut off than intended. Events in the barber shop were now resembling more and more the scenes from the Matrix film. My chair was suddenly flung back and without warning I had an orange face pack applied. Apparently I had opted for the full treatment which includes a full facial neck shoulder arm and back massage, not just a cut and shave. My face and shoulders were massaged with the help of some electric tool, a mixture between a stick blender and black and decker power drill. Jo was now actively trying to stop Benjamin's barber from removing any more hair. My barber was called over who did balance things out a bit for Benjamin whilst continuing my massage at the same time. Benjamin got treated to a mini massage before Jo finally managed to get him out of the chair and quickly left the shop. My 'treatment' continued for another hour. A cup of chai tea for me and some hair gel for Benjamin had us both restored to normality in no time.
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