It was like any other lazy afternoon. The post lunch mood (and need) of (long) siesta was too much to resist and I hit the bed with intentions of having a sound sleep for two hours atleast. The amount of fluid intake in the form of 'nimbu pani', served in mess during summer afternoons, was uncomfortably high and my bladder threatned to give into to the pressure. I tried to ignore the threats for sometime, but finally had to submit to the summons and went to relieve myself. After the mandatory actions, I went to the washbasin for the last act. There I saw the scene which made me lose my sleep, not only for that instant..but for some more days to come, a scene which I dreaded the most. There, I saw in the mirror, a lone gray monster standing out in the black background. My mind was racing now, thinking of ways to get rid of the grey monster. May be the short uncomfortable nap had its effect on my thinking abilities, for the ideas that I got were bordering on crazy, like turning into a skin head or burning the grey monster with a lighter. Somehow, common sense prevailed and I decided to just cut it out.

Now I had a new problem at hand; the one weapon missing in my arsenal was scissors. By now, I was less panicky, and the six month stay at hostel had taught me some lessons. I decided to use nail clipper instead. So, armed with a nail clipper, I walked back to the mirror and tried to sever the grey monster. My first attempt resulted in loss of around 20 strands of hair (yes. I did an approx counting), but it stood there, laughing at me. This time, I realised that my unkempt hair is not helping the cause in any way and I have to separate out the villain to reduce civilian casuality. After combing the hair, I made my second attempt, only to find out that mirrors dont function as they should. The laterally inverted image made me create white patches around the defiantly standing grey monster. The thought of having a bald head, with some grey hair proved to be a reason enough for second panic attack(a reasonalbe reason, I guess). So, all attempts at getting rid of the grey monster were immediately stopped.

Of late, I have started going around proudly sporting my new appearance. I have changed my perspective about the grey monster..err the grey hair...it adds to my matured look and that is what I have decided to call it...the matured look.