Cutting edge

After Partition in 1947,Khan Market was allocated as seed land to immigrants from the North West Frontier Province. It was during that time that Murai Lal set up a shop here along with his father. “My father,Prahlad Lal,was from the North West Frontier Province and came here in 1952. In the 1970s,people tried to take the shop away,tried to buy it. There were legal issues and the matter went to court. The judge decided that the shop could not be given away since it was my father’s only source of income and decried that we had to pay Rs 110 a month as rent. It was a big sum then and has remained the same ever since,” says Murai Lal.

Says Raj Kumar,one of the barbers at the shop,“People say it is unfair that we pay so little. But when we came this place was a jungle. We took the risk then,and are reaping the rewards now.”

Not that “reaping rewards” means charging very much. Prahlad Lal may have passed away soon after the court’s judgment but the shop has maintained its philosophy of only charging as much as is needed to run daily expenses. Lal says,“In 1952,we used to charge Rs 3 for a haircut. We raised it from Rs 60 to Rs 150 two weeks ago because of the expenses. We had to install air conditioners otherwise people would stop coming. This has become a posh place.”

Even while seeing shop after shop being sold to high end retail chains and restaurants for big money,Murai Lal doesn’t follow to follow suit. “I have had the opportunity to give up the shop many times. Many people have wanted to buy the property. But what will I do with so much money? Kutta rakhna padega,security rakhni padegi. Sab chain chala jayega,” says Lal.

So,at least for now,he and others at the salon are happy doing what they do best: cutting hair. Says Raj Kumar,“Since Khan Market is located near the bureaucratic enclave,all senior civil servants come here. Dev Anand used to come here when he was in Delhi,as did Rajesh Khanna.”

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