Air Cutting Saloon

If you go down to Gate No 116 in Bhatni, that’s where you’ll find Air Cutting Saloon. Deoria isn’t a place that moves too fast, and we like it that way. The shop is small and honestly, it’s nothing special to look at from the outside. We have a few chairs and a big mirror that’s seen better days and has a few spots on it. Most of our customers are guys from the neighborhood who have been coming here for years. We talk about the weather or whatever is happening in the town while I work. Sometimes the electricity goes out and we just have to wait it out or use the natural light from the open doorway. It gets dusty because of the road right outside, so there’s a lot of sweeping to do every single morning. We don’t have fancy products, just the basic creams and sprays we buy from the local market. It’s a quiet life. We open the shutters in the morning and close them when it gets dark. My hands are usually covered in hair by the end of the shift. We have an old radio that plays sometimes, but mostly it’s just the sound of the clippers. People know me by name around here. I don't need a sign that glows in the dark. The address is 274701 if you're looking on a map. It’s just a small business trying to keep going day after day.