Have a boss who asks you to groom? An annoying teacher who asks you to shave? Or an irritating girlfriend who complains about you being lazy. This is probably your month to answer all questions raised on your grooming skills and discipline. If there are questions on why is that so, here is your answer. The world men’s day, The Children’s day, the world Diabetes day are all some special days in the list of “THE DAYS” that we celebrate. But listing only these days has a reason behind it. They have one thing in common that they all come in November. And along with these there comes the NO SHAVE NOVEMBER and THE MOVEMBER. I have liked November from the time I was a kid. My birthday comes in the same month, and with birthday came new clothes and chocolates. And now I have another reason to like it. I needn’t have to shave for the entire month, and I can give a genuine reason when the HR stares at me. Office demands grooming. And grooming means a clean shaven face. But in November I can go to him and say. “Well, it’s November Buddy! The NO SHAVE NOVEMBER!
It hasn’t been too long since the “NSN“ started making an impact in India. I am not aware of how much of India is participating in it, but many of my peers think it as a privilege to be a part it. What better reason can you give to go unshaved for a complete month? If you haven’t heard of it yet, make time to read about it. I have listed a few websites which are dedicated to spreading the trend over the internet and around the world. Some of the links are here or here. There are a few more sites which say themselves to be the official No shave November sites. .Just google them up for more information on that. There have been debates on what exactly NSN represents. The aim of NSN according to many is to raise awareness about prostate Cancer, some which say it’s just for the lazy fun. Well, let’s not scratch our beards on why to go no Shave in November .But let’s have a bit of an insight about what it is to be a MAN who grows a beard. It’s more fun than it seems to be. Ask the person who can’t grow a beard. He will tell you the importance of having one.
Am I boring with this No shave stuff, we shall shift gears then, for a bit of acceleration. Let me rustle through my beard once before I continue writing. Enough of beating around the bush .Well, now we shall get into that bush, which proudly differentiates “MEN FROM BOYS”. For a guy there needs no explanation, You are home already, but for girls( without the beard! :p One chemistry ma’am of mine had a beard :P), Let’s explain a bit of legacy . It’s around 14-15 years when facial hair starts spurting out. And most of us enjoy the feeling of having facial hair early in our lives. It’s like a token to show and say,”Bro, I am growing up”. And letting others know the presence of some testosterone! Yup the alpha male dominant species. The homework that lies behind this is funny as well. That rolling of razors over the smooth teenage face, after dad completes his shaving (Obviously unknown to him), that temptation to start shaving for the first time. It’s the experience for life time. I remember being fascinated to have my first razor, a Gillette Mach 3. It was blood red, metallic finish steel razor. What an achievement it was to have it in possession. I loved Old spice shaving cream back then for its smell. Dipping the brush in water and then rolling it over the face, trying to get a lot of lather and then a smooth shave was a dream. Looking cool was the only thing that mattered. But the reality of it struck only after I had started shaving. The zero cut guarantee was off as soon as I had first laid the razor on my chin. There was blood. Damn it. Not a good beginning isn’t it!! But well it takes blood to pop some cherry anyways right! There was that determination to get a clean shaved look. After 15 minutes maiden run it was finally over. I expected that I would look cool and great, like those models who advertise razors in TV’s. I was confident of looking cool as well, but it just took a splash of water to make me realize it wasn’t anywhere close. I was not white handsome anymore, I was “firangi red”, and it was burning like hell. That describes my first shaving experience. Most of us have this first experience, unless we go and get it shaved from a barber. But according to me, the beauty, memory and satisfaction of shaving on your own is something which you can cherish for a long time. But everything starts boring after some time. The shaving which once was a matter of extreme importance starts becoming a burden soon. The early morning unshaved face starts looking better than the pain to get it shaved. It is a craze until you start shaving, and once you start, it’s a punishment for a life time. But what to do. We live in a society, and a society has its rules. Grooming becomes a need. And we keep shaving.
But then what is the point of having the rules if no one ever breaks it. Society asks us to shave and we bend the rules to make space for ourselves in it. And that is where we start growing a beard! That’s when where Men are recognized in the group of boys. Not many girls or organizations like guys with the beard. The reason the reason they give is that it shows a kind of rawness and rebellion behavior. If you are a guy with a beard, you will have already learned not to care for what someone else thinks about you. (I was constantly asked to shave when I was in engineering by a lecturer of mine. He was strict. But I was more concerned about my beard than him. I didn’t shave). Or you will have experienced the rejection in the faces of people. But one good thing is that beard had started trending as a fashion statement again and many trimmer cut versions of beard styles have evolved over years which make men look so damn sexy and cool. And again it is absurd to judge a man on his grooming. What he is behind the groomed or messed up face is what matters and that should be the factor which decides what you are.
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