Haircut

It had been several weeks since my last haircut so I decided that today was the day that I was going to take care of it.

One of my co-workers who is here on an extended stay (six months) mentioned a place he goes to for haircuts. He and I went this morning to a business named Headmasters because he needed a haircut also. As we arrived at the "salon", we were greeted by a security guard who opened the doors of the car so we could get out. We were then met by a group of what turned out to be barbers who walked us to the door of the "salon" and asked us to come in. As we entered, two of the barbers took charge and took us to our chairs. My barber put a drape around my neck that covered ny body to keep the hair from falling on me. He asked me what I wanted and I explained that I wanted a clipper cut haircut. I asked for a 3-guard and after looking at my hair, he suggested a 2-guard. We went with a 2-guard because I wasn't sure of the guards he used and I wasn't sure if that would be short enough. I figured that regardless of the outcome, if I didn't like it, my hair would grow back. So far, this was very similar to a haircut I could receive in San Antonio.

The barber attached the guard and proceeded to run the shaver on my head. I saw a lot of hair drop on my drape. Looking at the mirror in front of me, I could tell that a 2-guard was very short. He then trimmed around my ears with scissors. He then trimmed the hair around the back of my head with scissors. So far, so good.

Then he brought out the straight razor. I started to get a little nervous. He used the straight razor to trim hair off of my neck, around my ears, and my side burns. Part of the reason I was nervous was because I had not experienced a barber using a straight razor on me before. Then I realized that I did not see anywhere a solution to sterilize the razor, or shaver, or scissors, or combs like I would see in a San Antonio establishment. I then began to wonder if I was cut if that would be detrimental to my health. Anyway, I got lucky and did not get nicked.

Then, the barber returned to his scissors to trim my eyebrows and nose hair. After that he gave me a quick scalp massage. Awesome! I wonder how much it would cost to receive a scalp massage in San Antonio.

The it came time to pay. The bill turned out to be 250 rupees. This is about $6. I gave the barber a 50 rupee tip, a little over a dollar, and that was that. I may get another haircut before I leave India so that I am aerodynamic and streamlined for the trip home. The picture above shows my haircut but I don't know if you can tell how really short it is.