Tara Hair Salon

The salon is out on Main Bhadwasiya Road in Jodhpur, specifically in the Sant Ravidas Nagar area near D Kirti Nagar. We’re quite close to Bhadwasiya Hospital, so the road is usually full of people and rickshaws going back and forth. Tara Hair Salon has been in this spot for a while. The walls are a bit scuffed from people leaning against them, and the floor has some cracks in the linoleum, but it’s a clean enough place. I spend most of my time standing on my feet, moving around the chair with the clippers. The light from the front window is quite bright in the afternoon, which helps me see what I’m doing. I have a small shelf where I keep the razors, the brushes, and a few bottles of hair oil that smell like sandalwood. Jodhpur can get very dusty, so I’m always wiping down the counters. Most of the people who come in are from the nearby houses or folks who work at the shops along the road. We talk about the local politics or the price of things at the market. There’s a small TV in the corner, but the picture is a bit fuzzy, so we mostly just listen to the audio. It’s a straightforward business. No one expects anything fancy, just a decent haircut and maybe a quick shave. By the time I lock up at night, my back usually aches a bit, but it’s a satisfying kind of tired after a full day’s work.