Standard Beauty Parlour

The shop is right here in Main Mkt Moti Nagar, Ludhiana, tucked in among all the other local stores. We open up the shutters every morning when the market starts getting busy. It is a simple place with a few chairs and those big mirrors that have been on the walls for a long time now. Usually, people from around this neighborhood just walk in when they need a quick trim or have a function to go to. My hands stay busy with the threads and scissors for most of the day. It’s not fancy at all, just a regular spot where the ceiling fan hums in the corner and we talk about the heat or how much the prices of vegetables are going up lately. Sometimes the electricity goes out for an hour, but we just wait it out or keep working if there’s enough sunlight coming through the front door. Ludhiana gets really dusty during the dry months, so I spend a good amount of time just wiping down the counters and the glass bottles. It is just how it is running a small parlour in this part of town. Most of our customers are regulars who live just a street or two away. We know their names and exactly how they like things done without them even saying much to us. There is always noise from the market outside, bikes honking and people shouting, but inside we just keep to our routine.