Vanity

Our shop, Vanity, is at 100 Arabinda Sarani. It’s right in the middle of Barabazar Circular, which is probably one of the most crowded places in all of Kolkata. There’s always someone shouting or a horn honking outside our door. It’s 700006, right in the heart of the old city. The building is very old, and you can feel the history in the thick walls. We have some mirrors and a few stations for customers to sit. It gets very hot during the summer months, and the small AC unit we have struggles to keep up with the heat. But we manage. Most of our customers are traders or people working in the big markets nearby. They don’t have much time to waste, so we have to be quick with the scissors. My hands are always covered in water or little bits of hair. It’s a messy job, but I’ve been doing it so long I don’t even notice it anymore. We have a small bench for people to wait on, though usually it’s just covered in old newspapers. We don’t have any fancy signs or bright lights. Just the name on the door. It’s a bit of a squeeze inside when it gets busy. But that’s Barabazar for you. Everything is a squeeze. We just keep going, day after day, and try to make sure everyone leaves looking a bit better than when they walked in.