Hyderabad: Barbers on call

Hyderabad: Pictures of celebrities flooding social media in which wives are seen giving a haircut notwithstanding, the common man is keen on calling the barber home. With the lockdown now extended, people in the city are calling up barbers to visit their homes.

"I saw a number and dialled the number and asked him to visit, to which he agreed. This was like soothing effect, as summer peaked," said Md Majid, a resident of Red Hills. He said that before starting a haircut, he had maintained the precautionary measures, as barber was made to clean his hands and accessories including comb, scissors with the help of a sanitiser. While the barber had some opportunity to earn money through this kind of option.

"It's almost one-and-half-a-months since we were made to down our shutters and barbers are affected a lot and unable to cope with financial trouble. There are thousands of barbers who are engaged in this service and the lockdown has pushed everyone to the brink. Most of workforce in the profession are also migrants, some of whom have already started moving to their hometowns," said a barber, requesting anonymity fearing that cops may trace him.

He also said that as some of the customers are inviting him to their houses, they were taking the risk in going out and averting possibility of getting caught by cops. "Prior to Eid generally there will be huge rush during normal days, but since this Eid would be celebrated under Lockdown there is no chance either to make some money," he added.

"When my wife finished the haircut it was not perfect. Even my wife trimmed the children's hair," said N Praveen Kumar, who continues to work from home for an MNC. As people realise they cannot do without barbers, the latter are slowly finding ways to earn some money.