Lookout Salon & Academy

Our shop is tucked away in Shop No. 15/16 of Oswal Niwas. If you know where the Mahavir Nagar bus stop is in Kandivali West, you’ve probably walked past us a dozen times. We are located right behind that stop on Dhanukar Wadi Road. It gets pretty loud with the buses pulling in and out all day, but you get used to it after a few weeks. We call the place Lookout Salon & Academy because we do two different things here. Half the day is spent cutting hair for people in the neighborhood, and the other half is usually spent showing some younger folks how to use a comb and shears properly. It’s a bit cramped when the students are in, but we make it work. Mumbai is always moving fast, so we try to keep up with the pace. The floors are always covered in bits of hair, no matter how much we sweep. We have some old mirrors and chairs that have seen a lot of use over the years. It’s a practical space. We don’t have fancy coffee or anything like that, just a water cooler in the corner. People come here because it’s convenient and we’ve been around for a bit. Oswal Niwas is an old building, but it’s home for us. We just keep our heads down and work. If you’re around Kandivali West, you’ll find us easily enough near the bus stop. We're just regular people doing a regular job.