Of Hairy matters

When I was a kid, I had to endure a monthly ritual - hair cutting. All of us young kids will be rounded up by our grand father under a banyan tree and made to sit on a rickety wooden chair holding a small mirror on our hands. Perumal, our barber, will cut our hair as close to the scalp as possible under the stern eyes of the grand father. No amount of pleading to leave the hair a bit long will move our Grand father. Once the cutting is over (well it was one step ahead of being having a clean bald plate), water will be poured over our head prior to us being allowed to enter the house.

The guy, Perumal, was a specimen. Tall, fat, with hair pleated in the middle, sporting a Hitler moustache and round thick black framed glasses, he had a sinister look. His loyalty was to the grandfather and we were mere worms in his eyes. While cutting the hair, he will gossip non stop about the people nearby to my Grandfather, with least importance given to the quality of hair cutting. Nicks and bleeding were norms than exception. He used to charge a measly 4 annas (equal to 25 paise) per hair cut. Oh! how we kids hated him.

Then one day, he came to our house and declared that he will not be coming anymore to our house as he has opened a small one seater barber shop across the road. We were invited for the inauguration and there it was in all its glory. A small shop with wooden removable planks as doors, a thick wooden chair, with some mirrors. Perumals Barber Shop has taken off. One up for entrepreneurship. The cost of a hair cut was written in bold letters in a black board as 50 paise (100% inflation).

Time flew. About a decade later, I was in the college, and Perumal had sort of semi retired. His son found out to his dismay that the market potential in the nearby Palghat town, about 22 kms away, was much better. Off he went to Palghat (now called Palakkad), found a shop which was available for sale and purchased it ( my first exposure to Acquisition!!!). Now called 'Star Haircutting Saloon', the shop was in a prime location, had 3 full fledged Barber chairs with lots of mirrors, a music set blaring film songs all the time, some old magazines (why barber shops and doctors waiting rooms still have 3 month old magazines is still a mystery to me), driers, curlers and what not. That was the time when teenagers were sporting step cut, wearing long hairs and were very conscious of their hair. The cost of a hair cut has increased to Rs 2 by then.

In the years to come, I saw the business growing with the ubiquitous cable TV replacing the music system, saloon offering additional services like facials, bleaching, hair colouring etc.

I left Palakkad in search of my destiny and rarely visited this saloon for almost a decade and a half. When I went back recently, I wanted to have a haircut and obviously made it a point to go to a saloon which I was familiar with. I couldn't recognize it. The shop has been modernized beyond imagination. The name has been changed to 'Men's beauty parlour'. There was a neon sign board, the shop has been expanded by acquiring the nearby shops, now it had 12 chairs and looked high tech. The third generation of Perumal Family was running the show.

I had my hair cut, paid Rs 50 and was about to leave when a guy in his mid 20's stopped me at the exit. He looked strangely familiar. He gave me a visiting card which had 2 mobile numbers and said " Sir, we offer home service now. Just give us a call on this mobile numbers and we will be in your house within one hour and the charges are Rs 100 per hair cut". I looked up at him with an amused look. The guy was having long brownish hair pleated at the middle, was wearing a round frame less glass, was a little plump and had a thick moustache. If only he had the Hitler moustache, he would have looked exactly like his grandfather Perumal.

I thanked him and walked off. But couldn't help wondering. "What the heck! Home Service! This was exactly what your grand father was doing 3 decades ago and that too for 25 paise. The world has come a full circle and I now have to pay Rs 100 for the same service that I used to get all those years ago.

As I said earlier, 'The more things change, the more they remain the same'