Prince Hair Art Palace

Prince Hair Art Palace is at Shop No.1 on Nawai Manth Ka Rasta in the Ramganj Bazar area of Jaipur. If you know this part of the city, you know how narrow the lanes are and how many people are always walking around. The shop is small because space is hard to find in the old market. We have a front door that stays open most of the time to let some air in. Inside, it smells like soap and hair oil. We have a few chairs packed in and sometimes it feels a bit tight when there are three or four people waiting. The walls are covered with mirrors so it feels a little bigger than it really is. Most of our customers are shopkeepers from the bazar or people who live in the houses upstairs. We know most of them by name. We don't use any fancy machines, just the standard clippers and sharp scissors. The noise from the market is constant with bells and shouting and bikes. It can get quite loud, but we are used to it by now. We spend the day standing and cutting, then sweeping the hair into a pile in the corner. It is a busy life in a busy part of town. We just keep the scissors moving and try to stay out of the heat. It is a small space but it has been our workplace for a long time.