There is an epidemic underway. Correction. There are multiple epidemics underway. As H1N1 plows through the population and dominates headlines, I have taken it upon myself to draw attention to the epidemic of the Undercut. It’s everywhere. It’s the hairstyle where you pretty much buzz the sides and keep the top long. It has many variations and has been around for a while but if you’re living in New Delhi or Mumbai, you would have seen the style percolate down to the unwashed (hipster) masses somewhere in the last year.

Then as further proof, yesterday Arjun Kapoor Instagrammed a photo of himself sporting it.

And I decided, now that Bollywood too has succumbed to its charms, I must trace the evolution of this trend.

It started in the 1930s. With Hitler.

To further his plans for world domination, Hitler set up an army of youthful Aryans called ‘Hitler Youth’ who followed the hairsteps of their idol and popularized the haircut, till it came to be known as ‘The Hitler Youth’.

So when Ralph Fiennes had to play Amon Goeth in Schindler’s List, which fascist trend did Spielberg turn to?

The trend spread to American soldiers. So Brad Pitt sported the Undercut while playing US Sgt Don “Wardaddy Collier in the World War II saga Fury.

Of course it’s not a legit trend till David Bowie has endorsed it. So in the 80s Mr Bowie spread the Undercut virus to UK where it also came to be known as ‘the synth’ owing to its popularity amongst major synthpop artists of the time.

From music, the Undercut now mutates and jumps to sports. Who is the most influential hair icon for this millennium? David Beckham. And Mr Beckham has been flirting with the Undercut for a while now.