The Gazetteers Department

Hair-cutting as an occupation is systematically followed in towns where well-equipped modernised shops are seen. Besides some barbers with their bags (dhoktis) move from door to door seeking the customers. In villages the barber does not keep a shop; he rather prefers to sit in the verandah of a house or under the shade of a tree. He exercises his traditional monopoly by serving his clientele from whom he receives a petty reward at the time of the annual agricultural operations. The village barber's dhokti contains one or two razors, a pair of cropping machines, a broken comb, a piece of soap, a fading mirror and a small aluminium bowl (watt). The cost of these items varies between Rs. 40 and Rs. 65.

The establishment in towns has raised the economic status of a barber. But it has necessitated for him a heavy initial expenditure. For, apart from the set of accessories, a modern shop also needs furniture of the latest design, decorating and other types of mirrors, radio-sets and so on which together increase his capital expenditure up to Rs. 2,000 or so, depending: upon the quality and the size of the establishment. In Bhir district, most of the establishments are very small, and the initial expenditure has, therefore, not exceeded Rs. 300. The accessories of these establishments usually consist of a few cosmetics such as pomade, snow, face-powder, scented oil, soap etc., which entail a recurring expenditure. This expenditure depends ultimately upon the number of clientele visiting the shops. In a very small establishment the monthly expenditure over these items comes to Rs. 3 or Rs. 4, but in a bigger establishment it may go over Rs. 10 or so. Besides this, there are always some repairs and renewals to be made to the hair-cutting instruments.

The rates charged for hair-cutting operations are very low and vary slightly from one town to another and from one establishment to another except at Parali where they have been standarized. The net earnings of an average shop-keeper hardly exceed Rs. 100 per month. Even where the establishment is big and the number of clientele large he cannot earn more than Rs. 200. In the latter case he usually employs one or two artisans to assist him in work and has to pay for their wages from Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 per month, whether paid on a fixed or a piece-rate basis.

A hair-dressing establishment has fixed hours of work spread partly in the morning and partly in the evening. The time schedule is rigidly observed. Even in big towns in the district where shops are busy during the morning and where business is brisk during holidays, there is steady work and the occasions of having to work overtime are few. However, for an itinerant barber in the village there are no fixed hours of work. He leaves early in the morning and works till mid-day.

In 1961 there were 1,604 barbers and hair-dressers in Bhir district. Out of them 237 were in the urban areas.

Except at Parali-Vaijnath there is no union or association of hair-dressers in the district. The association at Parali is still in a nascent stage and has done nothing more than standardising the rates of the establishments in the town.