MISCELLANEOUS OCCUPATIONS

HAIR CUTTING

In a small village the barber is a balutedar of the old tradition and he serves the villagers for which he is paid in kind at the time of harvest. Generally he sits under a tree or in a shade near-about his residence. His bag contains all the instruments and is virtually a mobile saloon. It is only in big towns that establishments are found well equipped with furniture, radio-sets, fans and in a few cases even mechanical appliances.

In this occupation no heavy expenditure is involved on the accessories except a small amount on cosmetics, such as, pomade, hair oil, powder, snow, soap, etc. However, the barber in rural areas moving from place to place with his bag does not carry all these items necessarily except soap, coconut oil, a pair of scissors, a razor and a cropping machine. On the other hand, a shop in a town is equipped with other items, such as mirrors hung on the walls, chairs and tables. In most of the establishments, furniture is of simple type and just enough to serve the purpose. The sample survey disclosed that the cost of the tools and equipment varied between Rs. 150 and Rs. 200 in case of a small establishment; while it exceeded a thousand rupees in the case of a big unit.

The barber in the villages moves from place to place to serve his customers and hence for him there are no uniform working hours. In the big establishments, although the working hours are fixed, the employees remain busy in the morning and during the holidays for the whole day. The artisans are paid wages either on time-basis or work-basis but in either case the earnings vary between Rs. 40 and Rs. 100 a month. In the rural areas a barber is found to possess some agricultural land and he attends to the agricultural operations during the monsoon season. The 1951 Census recorded a figure of 1,479 as engaged in this occupation. The Census of 1961 puts the figure at 2,316.

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