The curious case of the humble hairdresser

Snip Snip..Roooommmmmmmm...swish swish..these sounds greeted me as I entered Crystal Hair Salon on a gloomy Friday morning. Dadaji, the shop owner, was sitting in his usual position, watching a religious discourse on TV. He did not work anymore, just sat in the shop as he chatted with customers, watching TV, reading and seeing his employees attending to his customers. I sat on an empty chair, waiting for someone to ask me, "kaisa kaatoon?..koi style vyle chaiye kya?!"

I observed the surroundings - hair creams and gels of 100 different companies were lying on the shelves promising dandruff free hair, 5 X stronger hair, long and lustrous hair, shiny hair and other such miracles. Fancy mirrors, cutting machines, talc, brushes, towels, scissors and razors were scattered all around on the dressing table. It was a far cry from the days of old when our parents probably used to have their hair cut under a tree where the only "instruments" required were an "astra", a mirror, a bowl of water, a scissor, a towel and a brush! Times change and how...

When I was younger, there were just 3-4 parlors in my vicinity. Now-a-days, however, swanky unisex and men's salons were all over the place - there were nearly 15 in my locality alone! Curious, I asked the owner's son who was cutting my hair, the reason for this sudden mushrooming of salons. He said, "arre boss! Everyone wants to look good these days..woh kya bolte hai..metrosexual male...Besides the money is very good. Capital required is less and running costs are low. And main thing is people do not mind spending lavishly on themselves..hence profits are also high!" Simple Economics fundas, explained by a hairdresser :) The director at my MBA institute was right. Learning is all round you. Just have to keep your eyes and ears open. When I asked him if his business had been affected, he made one more insightful comment. "arre boss, our business is somewhat like a doctor. Just like you prefer going to your family doctor every time, people remain loyal to a salon. They get used to a particular hair dresser and don't like to go anywhere else. Aap bhi to hamare regular customer hai!" He smiled. I nodded. I was a regular customer. Except twice.. first time when I got my hair cut in Silvassa which had my KPMG colleagues ROFL and second when I got my hair cut in Uttarakhand during DOCC which had my SP colleagues ROFL! But I swear it wasn't all that bad!! But he was right. I knew of some of my friends who used to travel for almost an hour to get their hair cut at a swish salon in Bnadra. "Only Colleen and no one else" she said when I asked her the reason. "She knows what cut will look good on my face and the latest styles!"

Just then, 2 young boys came in. I realized that school re-opening was just around the corner. One young boy who came with his father told the barber, "You tell me Up, Down, Right & Left and accordingly, I will move my head. The barber decided to have some fun and deliberately said down but moved his head up. Irritated at this, the boy shouted, "Arre aapko samajhta nai hai kya? Up mane yeh, Down mane yeh, Right mane yeh and Left mane yeh", moving his head in all four directions by way of explanation! Everyone in the salon smiled and chuckled. I was reminded of my young days when Mom or Dad used to accompany me to a salon called "Twinkle". I remember once when I got a slight cut, I cried a lot. In order to pacify me, the hairdresser gave me a lolipop. And thus began my loyalty towards Twinkle. So much so that instead of once a month, I used to go to Twinkle twice and cry jhooth mooth ka so I could get a free lolipop! Later I realised that they used to give lolipops to all kids - cry baby or not! Meri 'Cry-Crocodile-Tears-Get-Lolipop' theory ka popat ho gaya!

The owner's son asked me if I was OK with the cut. I looked up and thought the haircut looked just fine. It was just a simple haircut! No fancy Mohawks and spikes and all that stuff. However our hair salons have certainly become more fancy and they are here to stay. If Andaz Apna Apna was remade now and Aamir khan had asked his father to sell his salon and open a "choodiyon ki dukan" am sure his father would have definitely kicked him out! After all looking good is serious business these days!

As I was leaving, I could hear the Snip Snip, Swish Swish and rooooommmmmmmm as the salon went about it's daily business...

It's the season to be jolly!!!

Well, what can I say..the news emanating from close friends is only like that..smile inducing and bringing a garden-garden feeling to the heart :). They also proved some old proverbs right..Good things come to those who wait and Ache logon ke saath hamesha acha hi hota hai :D

First, my best friend finally landed a job in her dream industry - media. God knows, she had to wait for so long and was put under so much pressure by family and friends. Others might have even begun to cast doubts on their own abilities. But she stood her ground. And waited patiently for her turn to come. And now, she is set to begin work in the same week as I am. :)

Second, there is this typical gujju seth friend of mine. Loves stock markets, loves to talk big, and has a seth type paunch to boot. The most wonderful thing about him is that, unlike most of us, who still do not know what to do in life, he has got his priorities right and is surely reaching towards fulfilling those goals, one step at a time. He first got a raise, vindicating days (& nights) of hard work. And now, he finally bought a new home for himself with his own money. Feel nothing but pride and joy for him. Btw, I can already hear wedding bells....

Third, there is a friend who likes to take a lot of tension :). After passing out of an MBA at the worst possible time during recession he finally has found a new job which does justice to his abilities and skills. Best part is, he will get to interact with people from his native place in his new job ;)

And last not the least, there is the baby in our gang! Given his brains and aptitude and talent, he should have been pursuing his MBA from the best institute in India. But God had other plans for him. After almost 3 years of seeing his friends around him finishing their MBA and beginning their careers afresh, he now gets to do his MBA from one of the top universities in the US which is known for it's excellent careers in consulting post the program. And that is just what this kid-at-heart wanted to do..

Of course all this news followed the wedding of two of my gang to each other!! :)

P.S this was a post dedicated to the BMS gang. :)

Outside In

Was travelling in the local train last week when I noticed a teenager, around 15-16 years old, looking very scared. He probably looked like someone who had come to Mumbai for the first time. The nervous and yet hopeful look in his eyes prompted me to write this....

A pair of very angry eyes fastened on me in the Churchgate bound local. "Abee..dikhta nai hai kya! Dekh ke chadhna upar..Alibaug se aaya hai kyaa...Kahaan kahaan se aa jaate hai log...."

Kahaan kahaan se nahi...I felt like saying. But I was too scared..too nervous. As the train from Sarangpur pulled into Mumbai last evening, there were waves of different feelings passing over me - Nervousness, excitement, apprehension and hope. I stepped into Mumbai for the first time, excited and hopeful of something better just like the multitudes of people who come to the city almost every day in search of the proverbial pot of gold but at the same time fearing the worst.

Mumbai ke baare mein bahut suna tha, especially about it's new found hostility towards "outsiders" from people who had already migrated here. But I had no choice. The scene could be straight out of some Bollywood movie of old (these days even Bollywood has abandoned us in favour of making movies for the so called multiplex generation and NRI's) - the school which I attended till class VII was in shambles due to a dearth of quality teachers. My father worked as a labourer on a small piece of land and his income was barely sufficient to sustain a family of 6. Yes, it's a very typecast setting. But it's the reality none the less. People should realize that we do not like to move to Mumbai and survive, not live, in conditions worse than in a village - a slum with no water, electricity and sanitation amidst sewers and open drains. And it's not just the destitute. Even youth from well-to-do families, fed on a daily diet of soaps and ads, want to move to a city in search of a better life and entertainment to satiate their aspirational levels. To a naive youth like me, the solutions seemed so simple and staring in the face. Why don't industrialists set up factories here to process the raw materials like cotton which grows in plenty here? I had heard about so called Rural BPOs and Micro-finance initiatives which could generate employment for the semi-literate youth residing here. But sadly, none of this seemed likely to come up in the near future. I failed to understand the reasons. Perhaps it wasn't all that simple.

And so, here I was, trying to move into a new home of a distant relative who was kind enough to offer me some work, away from home and familiar faces and places. Thousands have come to Mumbai before me. Few have succeeded, most have continued to live a hard life. But almost all who have come here haven't been disappointed, doing something or the other that kept the wheels of this megapolis churning. I do not aim to do something miraculous. I do not want to be part of some rags-to-riches story. I just want to earn enough to support my family back home. I know the odds are against me. But hope is a wonderful feeling that keeps people afloat.

As I stepped outside Churchgate station, bright sunlight hit me. I took a deep breath, took one giant stride forward and moved on..the words "kahaan kahaan se aate hai log" still ringing in my ears.....