Biswas Saloon

Biswas Saloon is tucked away in the Jagatpur area, specifically over in Gobindanagar. This part of Kolkata - 700059 is where we live and work every day. The shop is small, maybe smaller than what people are used to in the city center. We have a couple of wooden stools for people to sit on while they wait their turn. The floor is concrete, and it gets stained with hair clippings pretty fast, so I’m always sweeping. It’s just how it is. We don’t have a lot of space for fancy decorations. There’s a shelf with some bottles of aftershave and a few tubs of cream that we’ve used for years. Outside in Gobindanagar, you can hear the kids playing or the motorbikes zooming past. It’s a tight-knit neighborhood. People don't just come here for a haircut; they come to escape the sun for a bit or to hear the latest gossip from the market. I’ve been holding the shears for a long time now. My fingers get stiff in the winter, but once I start working, it goes away. The mirrors have some spots on the edges where the silver is peeling off, but you can still see yourself well enough. We aren't trying to be anything fancy or fast. We just want to do a decent job so people in Jagatpur keep coming back. It’s a simple life on this side of town. I usually finish a cup of tea by the afternoon.