Samai Saloon

People around here know Samai Saloon mostly because we are right near the big water tank. It is a landmark on Niirmal Sengupta Sarani that everyone uses when they are lost. The shop is small and stays pretty busy during the morning hours before the sun gets too high over Kolkata. We open the shutters early when the air is still a bit fresh, though the humidity usually catches up by ten. Inside, there are three chairs and a long mirror that has seen better days, but it does the job just fine. You won't find anything fancy here, just some scissors, a few combs, and the sound of the ceiling fan clicking overhead. Sometimes the radio is on, playing whatever station has the clearest signal that day. Our floor is tiled, and we spend a good part of the day sweeping up hair that piles up around the base of the chairs. People come in, sit on the bench, and wait their turn while looking out at the street. It’s just how things go in this part of the city. We have been at this address, number 2 on the street, for quite a while now. Most of the people who walk through the door are neighbors we recognize. It is a simple life of cutting hair and talking about the weather or the price of fish. Nothing complicated happens inside these walls, and that is how we like it.