Type 1
There’s an open-air hair salon on the banks of the Bagmati River in Gaushala. And there is a line of men waiting for their turn to get a haircut. Dipen Thakur, the 18-year-old barber, is engrossed in his work, oblivious to the crowd and the noise around him. He throws a quick glance at me and says, “I don’t have the money to rent a room. Here, I don’t need to pay ayone.”
Dipen is from Rajbiraj, a town in the south-eastern district of Saptari. He hasn’t been to school. In Gaushala, he lives with his parents; it’s his responsibility to look after them. “I don’t have a choice. My dad is a drunkard and doesn’t work,” Dipen expresses his helplessness.
What adds to his problem is the regular police patrol. “Then I have to run. Or else they will arrest me. In fact I’ve been caught four times already,” Dipen says, smiling. It’s been around a year since he’s been working in Kathmandu as a barber, the one who constantly fears arrest.
Type 2
Close to the KMC hospital in Sinamangal is Ganga Hair Dresser, which has been run for 35 years by 50-year-old Ganga Thakur. Thakur is originally from Gadhimai in Bara, a district in the central plains. He raised his three daughters and one son working as a barber. He doesn’t face the kind of trouble Dipen does. Thakur pays a monthly rent of Rs 7,000 and has regular customers. “I just about get by,” he says.
Type 3
The third kind of hair salons are those that are operated in large apartment buildings. Mukesh Dev, also from Rajbiraj, runs one in Kirtipur. He has named it Hair Studio and has decorated it splendidly.
Mukesh returned to Nepal after working in the UAE for five years. He has no plans to go abroad again. “Now I want to do something here,” he says. He already employs three people and wants to hire three more within a few months.
History
It is said that the word ‘hairdresser’ was first coined in Europe in the 17th century. Initially, the service catered to men. Beauty parlors for women were established only in the 20th century.
Archeologists, on the basis of their discovery of the remains of shaving instruments in the Indus Valley, date haircutting to hypothesize that the practice of haircutting started around 3300–1300 BCE. Over time, the occupation became associated with the caste system. Kings and landlords started summoning barbers to their palaces. Ordinary citizens also sent for them on special occasions like weddings, funerals and bratabanda (a rite of passage for Hindu boys).
Gajendra Thakur, chairperson of Nepal Barber Trade Union, says barbers are still treated as untouchables in some places in the Madhes. It is the Thakurs who are primarily responsible for shaving heads when a family member passes away. They are still summoned for cutting hair and nails during weddings, although the practice is disappearing. “Like bonded farm laborers, Thakurs used to get only 10kg of rice annually for their service. Later we rejected the arrangement,” he says.
In Kathmandu Valley, a particular Newar community of barbers was given the title of Napit by Jayasthiti Malla, the 14th century king of Kathmandu valley, during his codification of the law.
How’s the pay?
It’s on Saturdays and during festivals that barbers earn the most.
Dipen earns Rs 400 a day on average. He charges Rs 60 for a haircut and Rs 40 for a shave. Ganga makes more; he charges Rs 80 for a haircut and Rs 60 for a shave. He earns about Rs 700 on weekdays. On Saturdays, his income can go up to Rs 2,000. Ganga says those who run open or high-end hair salons do not stick to the rate set by the Barbers Association, and have their own, arbitrary, rates. Mukesh charges Rs 120 for a haircut and Rs 80 for a shave.
All three of them are Nepali citizens. Barbers from India are reluctant to speak with the media. Gajendra says there are around 10,000 workers in approximately 4,000 hair salons in Kathmandu Valley alone. He estimates 80 percent of the workers are Indian nationals. The profession is dominated by Indians while Nepalis are going abroad in droves to earn as little as Rs 20,000 a month. Meanwhile, are reportedly remitting billions from Nepal’s nooks and crannies. But official figures are unavailable. No state body has data on how many hair salons are there in the country or how much money Indian barbers send home.
“You don’t find Indian barbers in rural parts of Tarai. But in urban centers, they are ubiquitous. And in the hills, it’s almost as if they have a monopoly on the trade,” says Gajendra. He thinks the state should do a better job at regulating and taxing hair salons. Regulations are important also because of health issues. “There are uneducated barbers who carry out their job indiscriminately. They are not careful about the creams and colorings they apply,” he says.
When asked about the general complaint that barbers charge arbitrary rates, he responds defensively, “We don’t do that. But there are customers who want a particular Japanese sports star’s hairstyle. Some ask for a Hollywood star’s coiffure. Meeting such demands requires extra time, which naturally commands a higher rate.”
The rules
To run a hair salon, one needs to be associated with the Barbers Association and register with the municipality office. That license costs Rs 6,000. The funds thus collected are meant for emergency purposes. Thakur says Indian barbers do not abide by the rules but ask the association for help when they run into problems. The rules prohibit establishment of two hair salons within a radius of 50 shutters. The association finds an appropriate place and helps with the initial set-up. But it doesn’t seem the rules have been followed everywhere. “I’ve been here for 35 years. If somebody opens up a hair salon close to mine, I’ll be ruined,” says Ganga.
“There are some customers who are very polite. That keeps my spirits up the entire day. But there are others who are insensitive. Sometimes, an 80-year-old guy calls my little son ‘Bhaiya’. That makes me sad,” he says.
Dipen has similar experiences. “There are some customers who use derogatory language. I’m extremely hurt when someone calls me ‘Dhoti’,” he rues.
By Raju Syangtan | Kathmandu
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