After another museum show, some living art was encountered at a mamak shop over a salted lassi. The place was crowded with Tamils, which always provided some charm, like gaining admittance to an intimate family circle.
Rather than taking the waiter's suggestion for a table in the corner, sharing with an accommodating old uncle was better. All the waiters were Tamil too, the food & drink, colours & decorations. In that round the culture was absorbed from each & every side.
Lakshmi had been discovered on the first visit to the Indian quarter in KL, where the blank looks from waiters & patrons never succeeded in masking the surprise at the foreigner.
Behind and one row back a heavy head sagging toward the table showed an unusual coiffure. This chap’s visit to his barber you would have very much liked to see. Every couple of weeks the fellow went for colouring, trim & styling. Watching on would prove fascinating.
At first the man sat alone; later a younger companion, a relative or close acquaintance, joined from out back. The man appeared fixed on something in his lap. With his chair out he sagged forward, heavy-set & big bellied, as would soon be more fully revealed. Pumpkin scone & glasses.
Neat urban gent in the uniform of his class: blue striped shirt, trousers & polished shoes, in this case sockless. A Tamil newspaper had been cast aside. Later against the sagging, an old dumb phone was clutched tight.
When the chin reached the breast-bone it seemed he might fall from his perch—face first into apple or custard pie in a slight alteration of setting. In the event he always righted himself in time, raised his weary head and batted away the drowsiness.
One could not be sure, but at one point it seemed the young waiter unceremoniously roused him. Not in this place, Mister.
At first the assumption was early-60s; in fact that was out by a decade. Before the by-play between his companion and the pals at the table behind, the flourishes of the barber gripped attention. It was certainly an artful arrangement. Mostly the colour was lustrous black. So far as possible, the pate had been covered by swinging long strands from at least three different quarters. These reached from behind as well as the sides and were stuck down by oil. Tyre marks in dirt were suggested; sail rope on a jetty. On his pillow turning in the man would spread a towel to save daily washing.
From two tables back an estimate had the tape running off the reel—close to 9 & 10inch flaps. A more simple challenge faced the barber of King Midas.
Between noddings-off, the pen from the shirt pocket was deployed for calculation. Slips of paper & plastic, with lottery tickets piled on the table. Notes produced for the cashier at the counter were carried across by the younger companion. The moustache was matching. Every so often the deeper breaths produced sudden droppings of jaw, as if a hinge had silently snapped. Missing teeth completed the ruin.
One could not find a better fall-guy from the silent era. Yet mornings the man faced the mirror just the same. The oil helped in the wind too.
It was not difficult to understand the fun at the old uncle’s expense. The companion might have been a nephew or neighbour, in cahoots with the chaps at the table behind. Every two minutes the lads looked over the droopy head, nodding and big-eyeing their pal. The quick glimmers fired over were never caught by the old sod, the daft, old mullet.
On the paper the calculations were referenced from old lottery tickets. In-between dozes numbers were etched in the boxes of new tickets. For the loose oddments while he worked the phone acted as paperweight; descending into his doze it was clutched tight.
One of the tickets held the chance of rich ringgit. In case of a strike the new implants would be sought.
When the time arrived to give his attendant the final selection, a tenner was produced. Off the chap went on the errand. There would be property & cash before very long.
Uncle needed a wash at the stand under the stair, the belly slowly levered over. Back at table the lads behind sprung up to help the landing on the chair. All fine graces & courtesy.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
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