Okay, do not judge me based on this photo above. Not only that I look ridiculous, I also look a bit over-weight. The initial idea of the photo was to challenge myself to lose some weight and blog about the whole thing. I was going to take the before-after shot. Then this other idea came up and I thought this photo kind of represents it, so voila, that's the whole story.
Almost two years ago, I decided to shave my head. I remember telling myself that it was a crazy idea, but at that time, I assured myself that it's going to be liberating, which it is. Some people give up eating meat, I gave up having hair. It's just that simple.
Unfortunately, I live in a society that probably is not familiar with a completely shaved head. I cannot begin to tell you, how many people have use my hair absence to deliberately mock me. I have been called shining-head, egg-head, golf-ball to the most vicious and offensive one, botak (translated as bald).
Okay, let me try to explain to you why it's offensive. You probably remember that Gwyneth Paltrow - Jay Z - Kanye West incident a year ago? When Paltrow joked around using or referring to Jay Z's song which contains the N word (you know which word I'm talking about, don't you?). Jay Z, Beyonce and (probably) Kanye were extremely upset and offended by Paltrow due to that usage of N-word simply because she's white.
The same thing applies to my situation. Despite the fact that I am botak, but to have someone who is not, calling me that is very insulting. For me it's equally offensive as Paltrow using that N-word.
However, I'm a man with a big heart. I forgive and forget. So I forgive you, crazy super-drunk mas-mas at Pluit who almost made a song of my baldness.
I also forgive you, you little brat at Grand Indonesia last weekend, who probably was there for your first time ever. I forgive you for pointing your index finger at me and calling me "om botak".
I hope in the future once this post published, being bald is no longer unusual, but it can be considered cool and trendy.
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