Last Saturday I went to get my hair cut at this saloon/barbershop that I usually go to since the past year or so. When I first started going to get my hair cut I used to go to this place called Capitol – most of the males in my extended family went there. The two or three barbers who ran the place knew all of us and it felt weird if we got our hair cut at any other place. Then in the early 2000s a small barber shop started near my then house and it just made more sense to go there to save time (Capitol was in the city about 45 minutes away by bus or car).
In 2006 I moved to the city but when I made my way to Capitol, I found a new business there and they had no clue as to where the barbers had moved off to. I asked my brother-in-law if he could recommend a place and he suggested Mamma Mia (don’t ask!) – which is a gent’s & ladies saloon, beauty parlour nearby. So I started going there and I liked them as they did a fine job. I usually get my hair cut every 3 months or so and I usually don’t have to wait too long for my turn once I go there. About a year or so ago I went to the place to get my hair cut and find the place closed up. When I checked with the store next to them, they said that the owners had moved shop elsewhere but they had left no forwarding address. So now I needed a new place again!
As luck would have it, my father had happened to see the ‘Capitol’ sign board in the city and found their new place of business and he told me about it. I was overjoyed to know that one of the old barbers was still working there – the other owner had passed away – and he had setup shop with a lady who ran the beauty part of the saloon – facials, hair dying and all that stuff. However the barber had a bad health related issue (not sure what it is) and became laid up and unable to work anymore. He sold his share of the business to his partner and she is running the saloon by herself, hiring a barber to cut men’s hair. Each of the last 3 times I have been there I see a new barber there. They only seem to last 3 months or less! Each time I have to get accustomed to the new barber and tell them exactly how I want my precociously balanced, balding hair should be trimmed. I miss having a regular barber or barbers!Also their rates have gone up exponentially! Just like that a jump of Rs.40! WTF?
Either I will have to find out where the bloody hell Mamma Mia has set up their new place of business or find another place altogether. Also – I don’t like the lady who runs Capitol. She is pushy – every time I come in she keeps trying to see if she can get more business outta me but she doesn’t do it in a nice way. I can’t stand her. Plus her rates really have to be controlled! Sigh!