Time was then when a woman’s sari slipped and led to an epic battle called Mahabharata. Eons later, when a modern Indian woman’s sari would slip many men would be distracted. I mean, we know men worshipped Nargis as she warbled in the moonlight with Raj Kapoor, but they sure were distracted when R.Kapoor made sure that his heroine’s chiffon sari pallav almost, always, slipped artfully under his green-eyed gaze.
There’s not much to watch in these days of power dressing women. Besides female cleavage has done a turnaround. Women are concentrating on flashing shapely backs and butts with tantalising tattoos. The cleavage has moved down to the butt with hipsters and low slung jeans. Parameshwar Godrej’s naval dipping necklines no longer make anyone stop in their tracks. They stop looking after a glance at her ugly eyebrows anyway.
A man’s cleavage, if one may call it, is fast turning into a man’s sexual calling card in India too. Why isn’t George Clooney listening? Guess he’s too much of a man to worry about body hair.The trend-chasing ladette of today doesn’t prefer if her men come grassy and reeking of raspy pheromones. In these days of buffing and primping in male salons, poor Amitabh Bachchan, who made us golden girls go lip-smacking in Deewar with his unbuttoned shirt is a misfit. The new man-spotting dictum is to go for the smooth, hairless and waxed torsos. I don’t know whether young women of today object to embracing men whose torsos resemble carpets, or men have chosen warm wax as a part of beauty therapy. Either way, some desi men have begun to shave and wax their chest hair after a fashion.
Last evening we were at a hookah bar peopled by the city’s fashionable and beautiful people. In the room, heated more by a hundred bodies and whiskey fumes and the hubble- bubble vapours, many guys lounged, carried drinks for the ladies, bent to whisper to pals at their table, all the while showing off olive smooth chests. Even the old-fashioned thick gold chains swinging on a man’s hirsute chest have been replaced by funky necklaces in threads and beads and dark cords close to the throat leaving the chests gleaming, spotless.
For proof of this new sexual territory on a man’s body, just focus on King Khan. Shahrukh Khan’s collar bones and smooth chest is on perpetual display in chiffon shirts. And when he wants to preen further, he takes it all off and takes a shower under a waterfall as in Asoka or gets desirably wet under the splay with Sushmita Sen, and even in water starved districts of India, pours himself a lota of water, while flirting with the heroine in Swades . Since Bollywood is swarming with copy cats almost all heroes are showing off their waxed torsos now. Even Anil Kapoor, has waxed his Himalayan bear fur. Now that must have needed a lot of wax!
The obvious question is: does what looks good, feel good too? The ladies, especially the young ones, vote for it. “Nothing comes between my chest and his”, says a model friend whose boyfriend spends more a month on melting wax than her. What about the old belief that the pigeon-chested guy is a tyro in bed? ” A man’s chest is a woman’s canvas. It’s hers to play with, as she wants. It’s not proof of his skills”, she purrs. Aah, seridaan Ma! Bet the boyz wouldn’t want to follow the girlie trend of doing the Brazilian wax!
The trendspotting ladies of Chennai note that Bollywood beefcakes may head towards molten wax but ungal Sathyaraj, T.Rajendar, Goundamani and even dear illaiya thalapathi Vijay have no time to waste on wax.
Hair on a Tamil hero’s chest is like rock salt to rasam.
Mind it!
ah maami.. neengaluma.. “mind it!” is probably the cheesiest stupidest most irritating taunt that I have heard in my lifetime. darn it, i wish i could have punched the face of every north indian who used that phrase on me thinking it is the most intelligent comeback they could give. it did manage to irritate me i guess, but not in the way they expected. I cant believe you have stooped to the level of using it urself.
waxed chest ah?? io io.. if that has become the trend in chennai these days, i must seriously think about shifting base to kerala if i ever come back to india.. adopt a nair identity like vivek in that movie with mumtaj.. get some omanakutty who likes the cushioning n tickling effect..
and my first first comment. (new to blogurundai)
(
I think it was that Agassi who started the trend of shaving chest hair a few years ago… Anyway, I remember while in school, many boys in my class used to shave their smooth chest just so they can grow some hair…
(School-a? Yaarma?Giving names pliss)
Aiiiyeee! Waxed chests indeed…what rubbish! Oru bear-a illatium, oru olive-va irruka vennam. Ammbalaikku azhagu…chest hair. Makes them look very macho…not like a fruit cake. Athu kooda, konjam sora sorannu thaan irrukkum. I am not liking this new trend. Or maybe, people are trying new things…err, u know where and not wanting to eat hair in the middle of a heated session..you know what I mean, right?
)
(Guhahaha. It’s called a Brazilian wax )
Samson’s downfall was his hair. Waxing his chest is the last straw in a guy’s character.
(Ouch!)
Girl: What is this, Sathyaraj madri forest in here?
Guy: Yen ma? Pidikum nu nenachen.
Girl: No no. Hair today, gone tomorrow.
Guy: Mayira pochu.
Padmaja maami! Which school is this? Please enlighten.
(JGuhahahaha)
Men are supposed to be hairy! If they started getting all smooth and shining, then it means hairy women like me have double trouble. Now we not only need to look cleaner than all the well-maintained women around (which is hard enough), we need to make sure we don’t look more ill-maintained then the men themselves! ayyo ayyo kali kaalam kali kaalam!
(Depilation was the one ‘painless’ forum where we raced past men. Now men are chasing us into the last bastion! Bring on the red flag)
I for one laud this reversal in trend. For decades women have plucked/waxed every body hair, let the men have a go at it now and scream Ouch.
(Me too!)
“Even Anil Kapoor, has waxed his Himalayan bear fur. Now that must have needed a lot of wax!” – Laughing out loud !!!
This is high range post!
Wanted to say one point: In the 90’s when we were in college, Navel showing heroines were common. Guys used to count the number of close up navel shows that Meena shows in the song “Thillana Thillana” from muthu and mock at the director for such cheap tricks.
(I can’t recognise Mr India without his trademark fuzz
To wax or not to wax?…that is the question
(Hamletian dillemma I’m telling ‘ya)
No model is worth the pain of waxing one’s chest once a month! Shaving may be ok, but (thanks to the hirsute genes of some cowherds from the Steppes) one grows a stubble in a matter of hours, making it worse than having grass on the field! Luckily, there are easier and more comfortable (though less effective) alternatives to waxing, like depilatory creams. Incidentally – in the US, the most popular hair removal cream for men sports the name “Nair.” I’m sure the company would say that it is pronounced like ‘air,’ but having lived in Kerala, I know that they are trying to subliminally woo what could be their largest customer base!
(Oh god, this is a laugh!
Maami..illa illa. I didn’t mean that…I meant the chest hair. Eating that..not something else
(Sorry ma seriya padikalai )
This is turning out to be very X rated.
(Risque, risque
Uh oh. Ladies only post. Mind it.
(Yeah, ‘coz it’s about men and matters!
From bear chested to bare chested a? good good all the better for showing off their smooth six packs. Nammorle it may be the best way to take attention away from their huge paunches adaan no interest. Still our heroes sport moustaches no? Other wise how can they mouth challenges like: ‘nee meesai vecha ambilai a irunda velile vaada’?
I think there is a long way to go before they begin to think of chest hair. I remember stories from the 70 s where they wrote:
‘avanadu virinda marbil padarnda romangalin mel sayndaal’
(Oh yes, thanks for reminding me of that line.
Just remembered the funny scene from “The 40 year old virgin” where Steve Carrel; travels to a Chinese place to get his chest waxed. (the following scenes are not suitable for children, and men).
(Oh yeah, I laughed my head off.That scene was a riot)
Maami!
How did you pick the topics?!?!
Padmaja maami, endha school la padichel?! sollungo pls
along with meesa vecha aambla, they also so ‘nenjila maanja soru irukkara aambla’. does this mean ‘no-waxing-for-men’?
(I thought of this while in Romapuri!)
enna maami,idu enna Hair varam ah…ippo dhan Krish ashok blog la..waxing pathi,oru peria sandai over….Appadiya..unga blog padika vanda…Ingayum orey Hair matter a irukku ??
(Koondal karuppu, aha, kunkumam sivappu, oho)
I remember an episode of seinfeld where he gets irritation and can’t stop from scratching, after he shaves his chest hair and it starts growing. Can’t be a good sensation
(Prickly)
You know what dalhi dudes were whispering to each other in the hookah bar?
“Oh yaar kam(come)hair, na?”
(Har, har
@Adhitya & @vazhipokkan,
A school in a part of Chennai which was remote those days!! Not saying more than that!!! Identities of a lot of people need to be protected!!!:)
(Gentlemen:It sure wasn’t PSBB. Mrs.P would surely have annihilated wicked maamis like us)
hello maami.. returned to see how guys are reacting to this affront to their masculinity.. che.. responses le oru thembe ille.. just guessing from ur JGuhahahaha reply.. double meaning laiya u wrote that?? jaigopal garodiya vaa?
(The guyz here are real cool. They don’t jump the gun. Wonly single meaning and no affront intended )
Interesting. Tamil heros will never ever shave them off, remember the panju mittai joke in Indian (Goundamani-Kamal-Urmila)??? Seems the last thing writer Sujatha wanted in that flick was such jokes, what to do, that is Tamil cinema
I remember Vairamuthu wrote a romantic duet in Rahmans tunes with chest mairu, cant remember which one, sung by Chitra I think.
(Uyir Tamizhukku…, Saary ba, I’m awful when I try ditties
)
lol
@Maami
As @Padmaja puts it, me too thinks its Agassi who started the clean look trend.My roommate during engineering applied some stinky cream to clear off to participate in a fashion show.
I hope its only Bollywood that loves clean slates or may be South Indian actors(except Kamal) don’t undress much like the Khans and likes.
-Nikhil
(The last time Kamal showed off his chest he was piously chanting, ‘Namo Narayana’)
[...] | Culture & Society Maami takes a dig at all men out there who hate hair on their torso and melt more wax than the women folk.I hope this trend does not catch up in Malluwood. Can’t imagine Mohanlal doing an [...]
One more clue, Padmaja maami?!
had quite a laugh there!! me dont care eitherways!! though TOO much hair is a bit ewww! now dont ask how much is too much! i really dunno!
did you miss using the word metrosexual!! :p
cheers!
abha
(Ditto and yes, metrosexual is the word )
Pseudo Tam, I am, I know!
(I’m turning bald)
[...] good shape. I don’t need this. Besides, it is too insulting to put a couple of Shirtless men with waxed Torso on the cover who have 6 pack abs. Why can’t they put normal men like me? This looks like some [...]
adhellam irukattum, indha Hukkah bar enga irrukunnu konjam sollungolen, romba naala hukkala poga valikanummunnu aasai….
(alas not in chennai. adu vandu, adu vandu…))
Hookah bar chennai le? Cudn’t you have told me this when I was there? Is is an underground thing for Page3 ppl or something?
Coming to the wax, I’ve always been amazed how women can pour hot molten wax on themselves and smile yet screech at the sighting of a cockroach/lizard in that adjoining room.
Brazillian wax, bed-tyros and chiffon shirts! I can’t comment as I’m too young for all that! Chamathu you see… LOL!
(I feel positively evil before your youthful goodness…) )
Looks like this photo inspired this post…
http://littletortoise.wordpress.com/2008/03/09/emoting/
Fogot to add: met all of your requirements (cute, bare chested, preening before a date with water, bead necklace on dark cord… though he’s bare chested naturally of course! )
(Awww, that is so cute and utterly trendy)
Rofl, Maami! But but i do think men look better furless.
Like…Akshay is soooo much better without that extra luggage. Let them take the heaaat. Hookah place…Amethyst ah?
(Ah yes, Akshay Kumar is a case in point too. Hookah place not in Chennai)
Why ppl surprised with Hokkah in Madras? (though you were never talking about Chennai)
Cha cha. Madras a ipdi korachu eda podrangale……
(Aaargh)
Maami,
) and wear a pony tail, with sunglasses it becomes difficult to identify if he is a guy or not..
Good one… There is one problem though. If guys shave clean (face included
With the hair removing culture, guys may soon attract comments like “semma kattai da/di”.
(Bruhahahaaa
Enna Maami, vandhu poyi, apdinnu ilukreenga…. indha hukkah bar pathina details konjam sollungo, illana ennoda mail id_kku details_a mail aavadhu pannungo….Unga blog fans_a yaemaathaadheenga. naan idhu varaikkum hukkah TV_la paathadhoda sari (sigh…).
(I’m told that there are hookah bars in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai -Mocha-dunno for sure? ?)
Not just on the chest, hair in the space above the upper lip is also a MUST for macho Tamil men. The bigger the meesai, the machoer the man, especially in villages
(They are the meesai murukum machans)
Talking of meesai, here is a pretty interesting video on the topic – the power of Tamil meesai.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjooI0pGs4o&feature=related
(How we love the Gabtun-our own red eyed Rambo
So, instead of Katrina Kaif in the Veet ads, which man would you pick?
(Hmmm..Akshaye Khanna?
Remba over this!
Uyir Tamizhukku…, Saary ba, I’m awful when I try ditties
A man’s chest is a woman’s canvas. It’s hers to play with, as she wants.
Reading this line, one is reminded of a 1990’s padam starring the won and wonly Raj Kran. The heroini was, I think, Sangeetha (not the one from Pithamagan). That was her first movie I think after a bunch as a child actress. And there is a song, which was shown on Superhit Muqabla’s Tam edition (don’t ask me why) and through the (dream) song, all she did was lie with him in bed, bare chested (him not her!) and play with the forest that had sprung out of his chest. Remba over and made one retch out one’s dinner!
(Sorry if I got carried away…) But yes, how could we forget Raj Kiran)
Curious … doesn’t Chennai have a Mocha? Mocha in bombay at least have hookahs.
BTW nice post.
(hubble bubble)
@ Lost Soul
Chennai does have a mocha in Numngambakkam.. and yeah they have hookahs!
Parameswar Godrej’s eyebrows take the cake in your post, because I feel waxed torsos wont last long-for want of wax obviously. LOL.
Men look good with hair on, though bear hair are a strict turn-off.
Maami, I am linking you from my blog, for the simple reason that I want to come back to read yours again and again.
(Fashion waxes and wanes)
Uyir irundale myir/hair undu
man’s cleavage…..that had me ROFL….akin to talk about heaving men’s bosom’s eh….
(man’s cleavage:idhannu Kannadavalli hege helodu?)
Really really funny! and quite insightful I must say
(I need a liberal dose of Anne French now)
No kaaments!!
But ROFL @ “I don’t know whether young women of today object to embracing men whose torsos resemble carpets, or men have chosen warm wax as a part of beauty therapy.” & “Even Anil Kapoor, has waxed his Himalayan bear fur. Now that must have needed a lot of wax!”
LOL! And I thought waxing was painful!
(Very much so)
Hair raising read it was Maami…. First the Hare lost the race.. now Hair. Sappa PJ aa.. ? pls adjust..
(Guhahahahaa)