Haircuts

So far I've had three haircuts in India. I was a bit nervous about getting a haircut at first, for two reasons. First, most Indians do not have curly hair, and barbers might therefore panic when seeing my head. Second, I didn't want to get lice or something from a comb that is used on everyone's head without being sterilized.

I got over both of these worries, though, for the same reason I've gotten over a lot of other similar worries: I have no choice.

My first haircut was during the orientation for the fellowship, at a town called Mussourie up near the Himalayas. The barbershop was tiny, but well-lit and in possession of some big mirrors and decent-looking scissors. The barber was pretty young, probably in his early 20's, but he was a real pro. After giving me a better haircut than many American barbers have given me, he even gave me a head massage. All told, it set me back 35 Rupees, including 5 Rs. as tip. That's about 90 cents.

My second haircut was a bit less of a positive experience. I live now just outside of a tiny village, so normal barbershop facilities aren't available. What is available, though, is a guy in a shack who has a pair of scissors, a straightedge razor, and a mirror. I went to see him about three weeks ago in the evening, around six, but since the sun was low in the sky and he didn't have electricity, and my curly hair would require more concentration than usual, he asked me to come back the next morning. I did, but the haircut wasn't nearly as good as the one I got in Mussourie. This barber was clearly intimidated by the curls, and kept trying to straighten my hair, which doesn't work very well. As a result, some parts were too short, others too long, and I wasn't particularly satisfied. It cost 15 Rupees, or about 37 cents.

Yesterday I went into the town of Sanand, about 8 km away, to a barbershop recommended by a co-worker. This one had electricity and a fan, which was nice. The smock they put on me had Japanese writing on it, and the barber was amused when I translated it for him. The haircut was decent, so I think this is the place I'm going to use from now on. It cost 20 Rupees, about 50 cents.

I haven't worked up the courage to get a shave from these guys, because it's all with a straightedge razor and something about letting a stranger hold a blade right on my jugular doesn't sit well with me. But I'll get a shave there at some point.

In other news, I'm going to try to embed some pictures into the blog entries. We'll see if it works. OK, it worked. The photo above is of the second haircut.