cleeeeeaaaaaaan

i had the best manicure+pedicure of my life yesterday. it was bloody endless. just when you think it's done.. there's more goopy stuff in a new and exciting colour. got me super relaxed and happy with my life and pondering the nature of the pedicure and the nature of work. specifically people who work in small parlours  the job satisfaction must be immense*. in my head it's like restoring a vintage car. pedicure = overhaulin'. the removal of dead skin cells (rust) to reveal the raw human inside - full of new and pink skin. yesterday there was a pink goopy wax like cream, bleach, a mud, white moisturiser, pink moisturiser, orange-brown goop, tingly white goop with crystals, dettol, fizzing white crystals (not in this order) plus scrubbing, scraping, cutting, polishing... when the mud went on and slowly dried into a landscape of dry, cracked earth.. overhaulin' changed into those discovery channel shows where they talk about tectonic plates and what not - how the landscape changed with volcanoes, lava flow.. i almost started pondering the potential flora and fauna that could inhabit the landscape of my arms. everything got massaged. there was even an electrically powered vibrating (sander looking) thing. for ultimate massage. i was over the moon happy. it's so much more about the experience than the end result. sure you know you got rid of much matter but it's not a very visible change. people will look at my hands and feet and think: "oh nail polishes. cool." but that doesn't even begin to cover it..

when i was nearly done (meaning about 10 mins to go, it was looooong) a grumpy girl sat down next to me for the exact same thing and was so so grumpy about. what use? pfft!

also also the whole experience happened to the hindi music soundtrack of my youth... it was some shahrukh khan filums through the ages type thing all the way to rang de basanti type songs. i was flashbacking all over the place.

ps. nina's, kundanhalli gate, bangalore.
* you've got to be that sort of person though, to really enjoy this slow revelation of inner human. i've had a few shitty pedicures where you know all the person working on you is thinking about is the ick factor of having to touch someone else's feet. but these have all been in fairly posh places and that is just a bad bad idea. posh places = zero service. it's all about the fancy looking foot-massaging tub of water that needs to be plugged in. rubbish i say! rubbish!

this has been a girly post in the style of AA Gill.