In pictures: India's love affair with the mustache

Mo, tash, ‘stache, lip caterpillar, slug, even snickering cockroaches (as a pitiful poet once called Stalin’s).

Call it what you will, the mustache comes with a fair dollop of history -- and mirth -- wherever it grows.

From Magnum PI-styled symbol of virility to Borat-esque nose-tickler, the mustache shouts "pride" louder than most hairstyles.

And nowhere is man's dedication to the hirsute upper lip more apparent than in India.

Indian history is inexorably linked to whiskers and though historians can’t be positive about its exact origins, the finely coiffed ‘tache can be at least partly attributed to the British, says Chris Stowers, co-author of "Hair India, A Guide to the Bizarre Beards and Magnificent Moustaches of Hindustan." 

Being kissed by a man who didn’t wax his moustache was like eating an egg without salt— Rudyard Kipling

“The concept of grooming them into distinct, standout facial features began around the time of the Rajputs, the former Hindu military ruling class,” Stowers says.

"When the British military came along, they had an enormous effect: some of the best of the Victorian mustache styles were adopted, refined and, finally preserved in and by the India military -- particularly the various sub-species of ‘the mutton chop’ and ‘the handlebar’ which persist gloriously to this day.”

Bombay-born Rudyard Kipling, a staunch proponent of ‘the walrus,’ went so far as to write that “being kissed by a man who didn’t wax his mustache was like eating an egg without salt.”

Fashion photographer David Yeo and I traveled around India and documented the healthy dedication of the subcontinental gentleman to this great follicular statement. 

The Tickler

Style: A kind of elongation of the nasal hairs; care-free but not careless.

Why we love it: We're surprised this Sadhu gentleman found lurking around the temple in Hampi, Karnataka, doesn't spend his whole day sneezing. His 'tache does appear to move into one nostril and out the other.

But while a little shambolic it gives the appearance of being gently groomed, offsetting his epically unnerving ice-blue stares. The contrasting hue between his whiskers and his beard is particularly striking.

The Regimental

Style: Barely there, but noticeable enough to suggest a don't-mess-or-you'll-regret-it persona.

Why we love it: This soldier’s ‘tache is taken as seriously as his role guarding a compound in Udaipur. Like his duties, he won’t allow his hairs to stray -- we were ushered out shortly after this snap. 

The Caterpillar

Style: Symmetrically cylindrical from end to end, this takes hours of follicular manipulation.

Why we love it: An absolute classic -- coordinated facial paint and outfit, strangely coiffed locks and the neat-yet-not-overtly-preened upper-lip/beard combo. We met this gentle character in Karnataka, it’s fair to say his look was rather more colorful than his chat.

The Headmaster

Style: Stays well within the cheek dimples and a good two millimeters above the upper lip rim. Where there are no rules to 'tache style, The Headmaster creates them.

Why we love it: Bull’s-eye on every level: the pomaded barnet, the coral, ribbed turtle neck, the rat’s tail, the neat-beyond-neat mustache, the clean-shaven cheeks. It was all too much for us to resist when we came across this guy in Udaipur’s jumbled, whitewashed lanes.

The Drawbridge

Style: You can almost see the two halves of this mustache lifting and falling as sporters of The Drawbridge talk.

Why we love it: He looks like the cat that got the cream -- well-fed and working in a restaurant that specializes in sweets in the pink city of Jaipur. Besides, he has reason to be delighted with his upper lip production -- demure, natural yet controlled and tres elegant.