MOUSTACHISM

By Arjun Singh Bhati (Jaisalmer, India)

The thick, oily moustache and colourful turban are the typical characteristics of a man from Jaisalmer. We have a very interesting competition during the desert festival of Jaisalmer, which is held in the month of February every year. The most interesting and popular event- moustache. Well, lots of young men here oil their moustaches for years and participate in this most popular competition. When the most fortunate one wins, he comes on to the stage with a hand on his oily thick moustache saying, ‘Friends, a man is incomplete without his moustache.’ And in the evening a big party is arranged to honour him and his moustaches. I think he the winner would be as happy as a man who has won a gold medal in the Olympics. There might even be a good chance for us to win a world’s most reputed competition-‘who will be Mr. Desert.’ But one cannot even participate in the event if on level moustache competition! Lots of foreign tourists take photos of the wonderful model representing the customs of the Thar Desert, Jaisalmer.

I remember that I never removed my moustache. If I had removed my moustache, my grandpa would have not have allowed me to enter the home. ‘A man having a moustache is the perfect man, a traditional man.’ ‘It is the symbol of being a man,’ and he added, ‘If your aunt had a moustache, she would be your uncle then,’ he declared, touching his rounded moustache like scorpion’s tail. ‘How easily a moustache could change the sex of a person,’ I thought.

  I once asked my Grandpa, ‘It is a personal choice. Why do you connect it with your traditions?’ My grandpa smiled and replied, ‘If you talk about personal choice, then I say to cast your vote is your choice. We have nothing to do with whom you cast your vote to, which political party you support, because that is not a question of our traditions and customs. But to keep your moustaches has everything to do with our traditions and customs.’

          Even my wife says that she likes me having moustache. I think lot of things have changed, but if we talk about moustaches, nothing has changed here.

I remember how my grandpa gave me a lesson on the importance of the moustache, telling me a very interesting story illustrating moustachism

Once there was a landlord. He was very rich and belonged to highly-reputed family. He lived in a far, remote village. But Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) is fickle by nature. During frequent droughts he lost everything he had. He sold all his land, gold and silver. He was now poor and he had nothing to support his family. He went to another village to borrow some money from a rich merchant. He introduced himself to the rich merchant. As he belonged to high class and reputed family, the merchant gave him a warm welcome.

But, when the landlord said, ‘I want to borrow some money from you. I will work hard and pay you back soon,’ the merchant became worried. He thought for a while and replied, ‘Dear Sir, we have some conditions of for lending money, which  mean if you want to borrow some money, please give me something like the deeds to your land, or some valuable jewellery or ornaments just for security, and when you pay me back,  I will give all your belongings back to you.’

The landlord looked down and said, ‘I have lost everything; sorry I have nothing to give you for security.’ He started to withdraw, then suddenly the merchant said, ‘You have something which is more valuable than land, gold, silver and all you’re other belongings.’

 ‘What is that?’ The landlord replied with great curiosity.

‘Give me one hair of your moustache. I will keep that as a security.’ The landlord thought for a while and gave one hair of his dry, uncombed moustache and got some money in return. The merchant kept that hair in a small silver box for years.

The merchant was very intelligent. After some years the landlord came back, paid the money to the merchant with interest and got his moustache hair back. The landlord did not want his children to find out that their father had sold his moustache. A man’s moustache was, and still is the symbol of masculine prestige and pride in the western part of Rajasthan.