Sharafat Hair Dresser

Down in Sitanagar in the Rambag area of Agra, you’ll find our little shop. It’s a straightforward hair dresser setup, nothing like those big places you see in the malls. We’ve been in this spot for a long time, and the locals all know where we are. The shop is just a single room with the chairs lined up and a bench for people to sit on. The walls are covered with a few old calendars and some photos. We use traditional tools mostly, and we take care of them because they’ve lasted us well. The street outside can get pretty narrow and crowded, so there’s always something to look at through the door. We don't have a big staff, so it’s usually just us working through the day. The smell of the shaving soap is the first thing people notice when they walk in. We don't spend money on big ads or anything like that; we just wait for people to walk in when they need a haircut. It gets a bit cold in the winters here, so we keep the door closed more often then. During the rest of the year, it’s mostly open to let the air in. We just focus on the task at hand, making sure each person walks out looking a bit better than when they came in.