Gopal

He Clips Hair, Not Conversation
By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI, New York Times, Feb. 16, 2010

Anthony Mancinelli, 98, gives haircuts, shaves and opinions at Antonio & Pasquale Barber Shop in Vails Gate, N.Y.

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Gopal

This article about Anthony Mancinelli reminded me of 'my' or 'our' childhood barber Gopal who always looked as if he was in his 90s. I can still 'see' his rugged and well wrinkled face, in his black coat, dhotar and a worn out or beaten up leather satchel - a sort of regulation barber bag that held all that he needed to give one a haircut or a shave or both. His satchel contained a small aluminum bowl - (used for water to apply shaving-soap), a shaving brush, a well-used container of shaving soap where we can see the bottom of the container in its center, an oblong brush, a razor, a pair of scissors, two kind of hair trimmers and a broken mirror with a handle. The mirror also had some blotches where the mercury from its back had disappeared or faded and the image one could see was a faint resemblance of your true self. The bag also included a small wooden patlee that was oh eight inches by six inches and about three inches high. The patlee was for him to sit or balance his frail body when cutting hair or shaving. The client sat on the floor in the gallery - as we used to call it of our chalee.

Gopal did not start out as 'my' or 'our' barber though... We were introduced or my grandmother was introduced to Gopal by our neighbor whom we called Nana. Nana's two sons called him Nana and then we all called him Nana too. Nana’s full name was Narayan Kashinath Acharya. We later learned that Gopal used to cut Nana's hair when Nana and his family lived at some place else, before they became our neighbors.

Nana was a big man. About say 200 pounds. Very fair skin and a hairy body. He obviously could not sit on floor for a hair cut. He had one rickety chair that always remained in the gallery. Nana majestically sat on this chair, he had his own towel that Gopal draped around him and gave him, what to my mind was a royal haircut.

As soon as Gopal came to our fourth floor apartment to work on Nana my grand mother would get hold of him and tell him that we two (my brother and I) needed hair cut. We may be about five and seven years old or just there about... Our fantasy haircut at that time was going to what used to be called Haircutting Salon. But my grandmother thought that we were too young to be going to salons and the price for a hair cut there was about ten-annas- about three quarter of a rupee - considered 'too high’ for small kids' haircut.

And so we sat for Gopal as soon as he was 'done' for Nana. Gopal would ask my grandmother how short he should cut our hair and my grandmother would always say some thing like make sure the hair does not cover the boys' eyes. Well, our hair was never that long. What we got thru Gopal's artistry was some thing resembling a crew cut, our hair so closely cropped that we could barely part our hair. The back of our head below our ears was flat and clean like there was not hair there...The result of Gopal 'doing' his work with his almost blunt razor or so it seemed to us. The back our head and part behind our ears burned like crazy. While Gopal treated Nana with respect and awe, we it seemed were always at the mercy of Gopal. He would hold our head in a certain position what seemed like eternity. Our necks would hurt. Some times he would push our head in his lap while he 'worked' on the back of our heads. We could smell the shaving soap in his wet and socked dhoti. Some times to see the end result of his craft, we would ask Gopal for a mirror he used to carry in his bag and his answer was always, 'What for? You don't need a mirror, ask your Aajee (grandmother).

This ordeal of a hair cut lasted may be three or four years before we graduated to the luxury of a haircutting salon. But Gopal continued to serve Nana. He had the same outfit every time he came to visit Nana - which was every two or three weeks. Nana worked for an insurance company and he always looked very impressive in his Maharashtrian style dhotar, long-sleeved shirt with French cuffs, coat and a topee.

We continued to see Gopal on his usual rounds till Nana passed away some time in early '60s. We lost Nana and with him we lost Gopal.

Gopal was our 'old' nahvee (barber in Marathi). Whenever I passed by Old Navy or see an Old Navy commercial, instinctively I think of Gopal - my first 'old' nahvee'.

I can still 'see' Gopal in his black coat, dhotar, a beat- up black topee and worn-out leather satchel...

Now with my fast thinning hair while I still 'see' Gopal I know it's only the fading memories of Gopal and my childhood days in Mumbai!

Gopal probably is still cutting Nana's hair wherever they are...May God bless them both!