Ysiad

Daya recently went to the Jean-Claude Biguine French franchise beauty salon by our apartment and has been raving about it since. She enjoyed the experience and said she was pleasantly surprised that such a place was in India. I was happy for her. “Good job sweetie, I’m glad there’s a salon nearby.” What did I know? I had never been to a salon.

So fast forward a few days. I am feeling down (culture shock post) and Daya informs me that she’s scheduled me a pedicure, foot rub, and head massage at the salon for 6 pm.

I tried to talk her out of it. The head massage at a salon is ok, but I was drawing a line in the sand at getting a pedicure. I had never gotten a pedicure before and part of my self image as a man was based on not getting pedicures. My resistance came as a surprise to me, because I did not know I had such strong feelings about pedicures. Daya insisted on the pedicure, ultimately winning by the tactically persuasive method of letting me know she would understand if I did not want to go, but it’s only a two minute walk away from our apartment so why not try something new. We had to reschedule to 6:15 because she needed more time than she anticipated to convince me to go.

We walk to the salon – me trying to talk myself into being cheerful the entire time. It was really a four minute walk away – Daya exaggerated the proximity of the pedicure by 50% to get me to go, and that did not sit well with me.

Well we walk through the door and it’s like being in another world. Everyone is stylish and professional. It’s a nice place. It does not feel like “a fancy salon in India.” It feels like a fancy salon. Period. I felt like a very important person when someone led me to the treatment room.

The person attending to me asks if I would prefer to get a head massage or pedicure first. Pedicure. Better to get it over with. This way I could at least get over the experience with a head massage.

Someone gives me a pedicure. And… it feels really good! I guess I was expecting something different. Painful perhaps, because they use those devices with rocks on them that feel like sandpaper. Or maybe I was expecting to transform a different person. But instead of pain, it felt good!

The massages were good too. I fell asleep during the head massage and woke up with a very clear mind and a hearty appetite. Total cost? 1,500 rupees for an hour-long pampering experience at a really high end place. I am happy Daya insisted, because I absolutely loved it.

While I was already feeling a lot better with regard to culture shock before walking into the salon, I was in an entirely different mindset walking out of there. Now that I have experienced the procedure, I recommend it to everyone. I plan to take all our guests to the salon around the corner from our house to get a pedicure first thing after they get off the plane. You get free gifts for referring friends there. Daya and I now plan to refer every faculty member in the entire school. They’ll thank us later.

And I did transform. My feet are pretty now.