New Delhi, June 21 -- One of the most memorable and pleasant experiences of childhood, which is reiterated in our adult lives, is the visit to the barber. The ubiquitous memory as a child is the raised swivel chair onto which you were physically lifted to see a hundred different images of yourself reflected in the front and back mirrors most barber shops preferred. You felt pampered and found yourself suddenly and unobtrusively being treated as all grown-up and as an adult, for a few minutes or hours. The room was cool and well-lit, and if you had to wait, you could read the gossip magazines that otherwise were never subscribed to at home. Later, television found its way into these establishments. The guys handling the scissors, combs, and various other assorted tools of the trade were your confidants. It was amazing to watch them size up your face and hair and get to work with minimal fuss. In addition to the haircut, men could get a scalp oil massage, shave, and neck massage. You trusted the barber, confident that the rather primitive razor blade the fellow used would never nick you. Who can ever forget Charlie Chaplin, the barber, as he accompanies his shaving moves to the tune of Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 in The Great Dictator? Watching it is simply therapeutic! The oil massage, or champi, was aptly described as a panacea for all ills by Johnny Lever in the 1957 film Pyaasa. It is a feeling every human connects with.
We soon discovered that the hairstyle was also a tool for self-affirmation and individuality, and not merely a functional one. When the author lived in the US, she discovered that, true to their practical nomenclature, the Hair Cuttery outlets in the US offered no-frills and reasonably priced haircuts. Nowadays, while the neighbourhood 'nai' (colloquial Hindi for barber) continues to render yeoman service, we find ultra-chic beauty salons that offer services ranging from manicure, pedicure, hair colour, henna and keratin treatments, hair spas, bridal make-up, and so on. The range of options and services is mind-boggling. It is more an experience than a service. You have the option of receiving service from a creative artist, an art director, or a style director, depending on their experience and expertise. Moreover, there is no longer a male-female divide. Most salons are open to both sexes and, in fact, you find as many men as women availing themselves of the offerings. I know of a colleague whose wife has hardly ever been to salons, but her husband has taken packages for skin lightening, massage, hair straightening, and hair spas. Solutions for men are not just restricted to haircuts, manicures, pedicures, and shaves, but also include skincare solutions such as de-tanning and lightening treatments, as well as dermatological procedures. The beauty industry has transformed itself into a multi-million-dollar industry, wherein innovations aimed at maintaining youth through Botox and dermal fillers, anti-wrinkle treatments, laser technology, skin collagen therapies, as well as feature-enhancing injectables, have found a large number of takers.
In the past, haircutting used to be a hereditary profession in India, a skill passed on from one generation to another. Fortunately, this caste-based profession has ceased to exist, except in some pockets of heartland India. However, in metro cities across India-Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, and others-as well as in Tier II and Tier III cities, entire generations of the Chinese immigrant population were known to run haircutting establishments and restaurants. There seems to be no specific reason for their choice of beauty parlours, except for the low barriers to entry in the art and craft of beautifying oneself and others. You did not really need a degree or extensive training (as one would in professions requiring specialised equipment, such as medicine or industry), and hence one can imagine that the entry requirements would have been easier. While these establishments have dwindled in number, a handful continue, thanks to the undying loyalty of generations of customers. In an era of flashy modern salons, the modest Chinese ones seem stuck in time, unhurried, with their faint smell of flower-scented talcum powder, tea, and a unique personal touch-a place without gimmicky beauty packages being thrust down your throat. This is why some clients continue to frequent them through generations, even as their numbers have dwindled.
A hairstyle is much more than a superficial cosmetic treatment or just another transaction. In physical and psychological terms, it is an important marker of being human as opposed to being wild. Unkempt hair signifies carelessness and, in the extreme, homelessness. Good hair imparts a sense of dignity, confidence, and power. A visit to the hairdresser's salon is a metamorphosis from a private to a public space, thereby enabling us to feel good, refreshed, and better equipped to interact in our respective roles in public life. It is here that you develop an intimate trust that spills over from a simple shave, massage, or hairstyle into something more meaningful. It is a place that you enter feeling jaded and weary; you recline in the easy chair, letting go of the buzz and chaos of life, and leave feeling rested and rejuvenated. Your hairdresser is one person who listens without judgement and does not merely offer personalised grooming advice. In fact, a hairstylist is one step short of a therapist with whom you can unburden your daily woes. At the same time, he or she is a master creator who is continuously evolving the tricks of the trade.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.