First haircut in town

Today is the first day that I have had a moment to relax and catch-up. My highest priority was to get a haircut. I was given directions to a place on Brigade Road where I can get a haircut and I set out this morning. After wandering around for half hour, I was convinced that I would not be able to locate this place. Just as I was ready to turn back, I found a small barber shop for men which I promptly walked into.

The place was about 150 sq. ft. and had five chairs. I was summoned by a small, thin and balding man in a spotless white shirt. Within minutes I was seated in a chair with a crisp white linen cloth wrapped tightly around my neck. The barber’s tools were a small rusty scissor and a black comb (not its original color). I started explaining my haircut preferences to him and realized very quickly that we had a failure to communicate between us. At that point, I sighed and gave myself up to his mercy.

Then the master went to work! For the next 45 minutes, he worked on my hair, cutting what seemed like one hair at a time. He worked like an artist creating his final masterpiece. He would snip a few hair here and a few hair there, gently brush some hair away and use his comb to rearrange my hair. After repeating this process about a few hundred times, he appeared satisfied by the results. Then he started massaging my head and scalp. He worked on it like a sculpture for a few minutes and switched to drumming my head with his fingers like a musician.

The experience cost me a grand total of Rs. 25/- ($0.50USD). The results? Well, this was more about the process and the experience. The wonderful thing about hair is that it does grow back!