By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer
Ever since the Great Red Dragon unleashed Covid on the world we have shunned barbers. This is not because we dislike this ancient, and very essential profession, but
because the snips and cuts that are an essential part of a barber’s trade could also transport the virus from our fellow citizens to us. Even though our cottage in the oak woods is surrounded by a protective environment, our age makes it inadvisable to take the risk of infection by this Chinese invader. Having lived for the Biblical “Fourscore Years and Ten” we decided to try and stay on for a bit longer.
And so, we resolved to cut our own hair. And thereby hangs this tale.
After twenty years, and a bit more, as an Indian Naval family, we found it extremely distasteful for Hugh to grow his hair longer than the traditional Naval “Short Back and Sides”. This, in turn, meant that Colleen had to become the family barber. The results were not always highly successful. And Colleen, as a very truthful person often admitted, but to sustain a long and creative relationship it is often necessary to be disagreeable. So, when Colleen said, “I am not a very good barber”, Hugh disagreed.
He lied horribly by retorting “No! You’ve done an excellent job!” hoping that none of our visitors would notice the unkempt silver tangle on his head.
This was the situation till that fateful Friday, the 21st of June 2024. Hugh had settled down at the dining table after breakfast. The scissors and beard trimmer had been brought out, and all was ready for another session of home-style hair cutting. We used the beard trimmer on Hugh’s head with varying degrees of success. At that critical moment, one of the members of our staff said that her son had offered his services as a barber. Could he cut Hugh’s hair? Here we must explain that our property, consisting of our cottage, staff quarters and a patch of woodland dates back to 1831. In those distant days, people tended to live in fairly self-sustaining homesteads. Quarters for the staff were an essential part of the estate. But we had no idea that there was a barber in our quarters. Naturally, we were delighted at this discovery, until we asked Anita to ask her son to come down and apply his professional skills to Hugh’s head.
Gaurav is a well-built, good mannered young man, the second of the three sons of Anita. Later, Anita told us that Gaurav had been talking to his first cousin Lucky Banali when they had seen things being arranged for Hugh’s haircut. Gaurav had asked what was happening and on being told had offered to become Hugh’s barber. We presumed that Gaurav would not have made his offer unless he was a self-confident barber. So, greatly relieved at this discovery, we had agreed.
Gaurav was the most gentle, and most effective barber Hugh has ever experienced, and that includes barbers in 5-star hotels! We were both delighted with his skill. We began to ask how he had acquired such proficiency. It was then that we received the most pleasant shock. GAURAV HAD NEVER TRAINED AS A BARBER, WAS ALL OF 15 YEARS OLD AND HAD NEVER GIVEN ANYONE A HAIRCUT BEFORE HE OFFERED HIS SERVICES TO HUGH! Should we have been indignant?
That would have been disgracefully petty-minded. Here was a young man with guts and self-confidence to cross a professional frontier given only by his own belief in his ability. In the Defence Services such people win Param Vir Chakras. We felt privileged to have been receivers of such pioneering skills. This is why we call this event our 90 YEAR OLD MUNDAN.
Gaurav and Lucky are by legal definition 15-year old children. If our Garhwali kids can show such mature skills and such confidence, then why do we have a shortage of middle-level professionals such as carpenters, masons, electricians, plumbers and general handymen which are such an essential part of any civilisation?
The great discoveries have often begun in the simplest of events. The legendary apple which fell on Newton’s head and the overflowing bath which gave Archimedes his eureka moments filled us with the same joy when we realised the incredible potential of Garhwalis like Gaurav. But what is our Government doing to tap this incredibly rich resource?
(Hugh & Colleen Gantzer hold the National Lifetime Achievement Award for Tourism among other National and International awards. Their credits include over 52 halfhour documentaries on national TV under their joint names, 26 published books in 6 genres, and over 1,500 first-person articles, about every Indian state, UT and 34 other countries. Hugh was a Commander in the Indian Navy and the Judge Advocate, Southern Naval Command. Colleen is the only travel writer who was a member of the Travel Agents Association of India.) (The opinions and thoughts expressed here reflect only the authors’ views!).
