BMH Connect Second Issue

IY
English short story competition
1 st Prize
Beard
Dr. Diya Rachel George
Specialist - Radiology
Beard
Amar's beard was his only pride and his crowning glory. Thirty
minutes of his morning routine went to its upkeep. 5 minutes for
analysing it, from both sides and from the front. Twenty, for
trimming, then checking, again trimming, again checking and
tweezing out the occasional grey hair. And the last five, for admiring
the result. He forgot the last time he had shaved it. The rest of his
face, however, was not so fortunate and fell to deep neglect. Though
only in his mid 40s, his hairline was receding fast. Living in the hot
desert weather of the Middle East had not been kind to his face
either. Although he had not been much to look at even while living
in his homeland Kerala.
His mother used to say that his beard fanaticism stemmed from his
deep admiration of his father's beard. His father's beard was an
object of envy in his hometown. In his late teens, he had also tried a
lot of the popular remedies that his peers tried. But for a long very
time, it was of no avail. Finally, nature and probably time decided to
take mercy on him and blessed him with an abundant mane. There
was no looking back after that.
Every passing trend of beard fashion had made its way to his face
through his growing years. As the adage goes, when one grows old,
one becomes like his/her parents. For a long time now, his beard too
obeyed the custom, and became like his father's – a thick bushy
affair. His family, was however not too supportive of his weird beard
obsession. Whenever he went to visit them, his kids would complain
it pricked them while he hugged. His wife would complain of the
trimmings clogging the wash basin, him taking too much time to
groom it and umpteen other things as wives are bowed to nag
husbands about. He did not consider these, pun unintended, to be a
hair's worth.