I am Seritha a twenty three year old girl from the state of Kerala in South India. A rural village near Palghat is my birth place.
I lived there with my parents till I was nineteen. At that time, my parents who are native Brahmins married me to a school teacher. His name is Datu and he is from Coimbatore. My father is a respected landlord in our village and our marriage was an arranged one. Our house was very conservative and nobody ever talked about sex. Datu taught biology at a girl’s convent in Coimbatore.
He liked my beautiful face and long black hair, and agreed to his parents’ proposal. I was and still am a down to earth girl who was studying for her B.A in Music at a college in Palghat when our marriage took place. I was taking bus to the college. I was one of the best looking and homely girls at my college.
Our wedding was according to the Brahmin tradition filled with elaborate rituals. A few weeks after marriage, my husband took me to his workplace for settling down in his village home.
My father had given a large sum of cash, refrigerator, and a colour TV as dowry.Datu’s was a large family including his father, mother, one elder brother, and three younger sisters. His parents who were also people of our caste were very conservative in sexual matters. Girls in their home, including me, never came to the front of the house or wore make up.
Datu and I seldom spent time together.
Our married life was a low key one.
His three younger sisters were teenagers with long black hair that had not been cut in more than ten years.
Two years after our marriage, Datu saw an advertisement in the Sunday job section of the English newspaper, Hindu, for biology teachers in a school district in America. He did not have much hope of getting selected when he mailed a resume to the post box given in the advertisement.
The advertisement was given by a recruitment agency in Coimbatore on behalf of a school district near Washington who was very much in need of biology teachers. Datu was surprised when the Human Resources Manager who interviewed him gave a hefty contract on the spot.
In July of that year, my husband flew to the U.S leaving me behind. We did not have much contact during that year.
In March of the following year, I also joined him in America. I flew there together with his three younger sisters.
We lived in a luxury two bedroom apartment in Annapolis in the suburbs of Washington. Before my arrival, my husband had purchased sexy clothes like miniskirts and sleeveless tops from an outlet of Frederick's of Hollywood, for me and trendy jeans and tops for his sisters.
I was some what thrilled to go to bed with Datu in the sexy underwear he'd bought for me.
One Saturday, while relaxing on the living room sofa after breakfast, and his sisters watching "Dallas" on television, Datu said that we would all look more beautiful and our age with short trendy haircuts.
At around 3.00pm, He said to me and his three teenage sisters "let's go" with an authoritarian voice.
Being from Indian culture a female never questioned her husband, nor was it acceptable for his teenage sisters to question their older brother.
He took us to a haircut shop run by a young guy and two ladies in their thirties. It was the first time in my life or that of his sisters to enter a haircut shop. In India an elderly street barber trimmed my hair when it needed it. We four girls felt very shy and nervous.
Back home in India, society is so orthodox that boys and girls have separate sections in college.
The haircutters’ were wearing black aprons. The haircut shop was part of an old run down town house. The older female haircutter a Filipino lady was cutting the hair of a local teenage girl whilst another Filipino Haircutter stood behind the counter at the cash register, and a male barber was standing at the back of the shop.
Datu told the younger of the two haircutters that all four of us girls were here to get a trendy boyish short cut and get rid of the long old fashioned hair.
The younger female haircutter looked at us with a smile on her face and said "don't be shy girls relax your bums in the waiting area and you follow me" She was looking at me Seritha. She took me to the shampoo chair applied a towel over shoulders, gathered all my hair which was tied into a ponytail, put it in the shampoo sink before undoing the ribbon releasing the ponytail and wet my hair with warm water then shampooed it.
"Your hair is very dry and dirty young lady, we haircutters’ will not usually shampoo your hair before cutting, but you hair looked so dirty" she said to me with a loud and authoritative voice.
She had towel dried it quicker then I expected and said to me "the vacant red barbers chair over there move your bum now".
Once seated in her red barber’s chair, she asked a few questions about when I last cut my hair and how would you like your hair cut boyish short young lady?
I was somewhat startled by her authoritative tone of voice and the extremely serious look on her face, I replied "the street barber only trimmed my hair ten years ago, and I never had short hair ever".
"My husband told you how to cut didn't he!" I asked her the haircutter and she replied sarcastically "oh yes he certainly did". She then looked at my husband Datu and said "would you like a blocked or tapered neckline for the gals” and he replied decisively "tapered" and the haircutter smiled and said "yes sir tapered cut they shall get and I will ask our barber to make sure the cut gets progressively shorter as the hair approaches the nape of their neck very boyish like sir".
"That sounds good for all the girls please" said Datu.
The lady haircutter then grabbed a neck strip and wrapped it snug around my neck. Then she flung over a white cape around my shoulders pinned the cape snug around my neck. I looked up at my reflection one last time with my long hair covered over by the cape around my shoulders.
"She's all ready for you Master Barber"
This tall guy with blue eyes appeared from the back room and said to me “Big Change,” as he started to pull my long hair out from under the cape. "I am Wallace and I will be your barber" I just smiled nervously and nodded yes.
I was trying to keep myself from getting emotional about this. I took in a deep breath and let it out. With that the barber was coming back around me with scissors and comb in hand.
He started combing out a section right on top of my head and held it between his fingers. My eyes popped as I watched him move in with the scissors. SNIP SNIP SNIP, they closed right into my hair about an inch above my scalp. 50” of my hair was raining down onto the cape in front of me.
He was quick to comb out the next section and SNIP SNIP SNIP. More of my hair was raining down over my shoulders and onto the cape. Barber Wallace worked his way up the top of my head reducing it to roughly 1.5” in length and moved his way over my right ear. The sound of the scissors was petrifying. With every snip more and more of my hair would rain down into my lap.
The right side was now completely cropped to roughly 1.5” in length like the top.
I suddenly heard the door opening to the shop and barber Wallace stopped his cutting for a moment. “Good Morning.” He said as someone entered.
I looked over and it was a woman police officer with two young boys and four young girls.
“Good morning.” she replied and she made eye contact with me as she entered. She had a surprised look on her face seeing what was happening to me....
“Take a seat and I’ll be with you after this young gal and her sisters there are finished.” He told them.
“Thanks, No hurry these new brats are going to Juvenile Lock Up from here. The normal Short Short Juvie Boyish Cut for them will do it” She said and they took a seat next Datu and his three sisters in the waiting area.
Barber Wallace came back tilting my head forward with his hand and started cutting toward the back behind my right ear now. He held up section after section at the back and sniped away vigorously reducing the length all the way down to a short crop across the back.
I had my head down looking into the pile of hair that had gathered in my lap and could feel the weight getting lighter and lighter after each and every snip he took back there.
“Wow", I could here the woman say out loud as the barber was cutting away. All I could feel at this moment was embarrassment to be seen like this.
Barber was moving over to my left side as he was cutting away at section after section and was now taking the last few locks away from over my left ear. He finished and the sound of the scissors finally went silent.
My hair was very roughly cropped to about 1.5” all over my head. You could see every feature on my face and neck now that there was no more hair to hide behind anymore. My cheeks stood out more noticeably now without my long hair.
Barber came back behind me again with something in his hand but I didn’t get a chance to see it other then the cord that was leading to it. He tilted my head straight down to my chest and I heard the sound of the Electric Andis Clippers pop on. Nrrrrrrr. The sound of them filled the room.
He had his hand on top of my head holding it straight down and I felt the clippers being placed on my nape. They moved up the back of my head quickly in swift motions from my nape to my crown, pass after pass. He tilted my head to the left and I could see them work there way up behind my right ear. Then over my right ear pass after pass taking my hair down to very short peach fuzz. He came over to my left side and worked them over the left side as well.
He changed the head on the clippers and came back for some more tilting my head forward again. He moved more slowly this time running them up my nape line creating a tight taper along my hairline all the way around the back and over my ears.
“This is how we lower your ears,” He said to me cheerfully as he buzzed away at my hairline over my ear creating a tight fade.
He finished with the clippers and took a spray bottle and sprayed the top of my hair making it soaking wet. He took a hairbrush and hairdryer and started drying it straight back making it stick up on the top. When he finished it was all spiked up on the top of my head with a very round shape.
He took the clippers and a comb again and came back behind me. I watched as he took the comb and slid it into the top of my hair holding it horizontally all the way across. He moved in slowly with the clippers and ran them all the way across the top of the comb pass after pass creating a flattop shape on top of my head.
Datu was turned on already I could see it in his eyes. He asked "Barber Wallace go even shorter on the other three can ya!".
Here I was a down to earth Indian girl mesmerized watching this transformation and how meticulously Barber Wallace worked at creating the shape. He worked slowly on the shape and took quite a bit of time until he was finally satisfied with it.
"Sure thing" Barber Wallace responded to Datu just as he looked at the younger female haircutter and said "next". The younger female haircutter then looked at Amihan, Datu's first sister and said with a loud and abrupt voice "move your bum gal now pointing her to the shampoo bowl". Amihan looked at Datu in fear but only to hear him yell at her “you heard Amihan move your bum now!".
Barber Wallace put the clippers down and hit the foam dispenser and white foam came out of it. He came back around me and applied the warm white foam to my hairline across my nape and over my ears. He took a towel and placed it over my shoulder. He took a straight razor and ran it over a leather strap on the side of the chair.
He tilted my head straightforward and slid the razor into my nape scrapping it across the back of my neck. He ran them up over my right ear and down my right cheek. He went around to my left side and ran them over my left ear as well and down my other cheek. He wiped my hairline off with the towel and threw the towel into a bin. He put some lotion on his hand and applied it to my skin where he just shaved me. The smell was like a guy’s aftershave lotion and very cooling on my skin.
He put the clippers down and hit the foam dispenser and white foam came out of it. He came back around me and applied the warm white foam to my hairline across my nape and over my ears. He took a towel and placed it over my shoulder. He took a straight razor and ran it over a leather strap on the side of the chair.
He tilted my head straightforward and slid the razor into my nape scrapping it across the back of my neck. He ran them up over my right ear and down my right cheek. He went around to my left side and ran them over my left ear as well and down my other cheek. He wiped my hairline off with the towel and threw the towel into a bin. He put some lotion on his hand and applied it to my skin where he just shaved me. The smell was like masculine guys’ aftershave lotion and very cooling on my skin.
Barber then took a dusting brush and poured some baby powder onto it. He brushed off my neck and over my ears and forehead while he loosened the cape. He slid the cape off of my shoulders allowing all of my long locks of hair to fall to the floor in front of me. He took his hand mirror and showed me the back.
“There you go,” he said. “Now this is a haircut that makes you look young trendy and a sexy American gal” the barber told me with a smile.
I sat there motionless and in shock. I didn't know what to say or do.
“You’ll get used to it,” he said as he placed the hand mirror back on its hook.
I got up and stepped slowly over the large pile of my hair on the floor, I didn't want to step in it. I was shocked by the amount of hair on the floor and felt overwhelmed at the sight of it. It saddened me knowing that it was now gone forever.
I walked back over to Datu my husband in the waiting area as he got up and hugged me, kissing me on my neck and saying I love it my sexy Seritha.
For the first time since we were married I Seritha felt life was no longer a low key one.
"Over here gal now" Barber Wallace yelled out at Amihan whose long tresses of black hair had been towel dried pointing to the vacant red barbers chair that I had occupied. As Amihan hesitated "move your bum faster" Datu yelled at her.
The younger lady haircutter then grabbed a neck strip and wrapped it snug around her
neck. Then she flung over the same white cape around her shoulders pinned the cape snug around her neck.
Amihan looked to see the reflection one last time with her long hair covered over by the cape around her shoulders and the piles of my hair that covered the floor.
"She's all ready for you Master Barber"
"Tapered ... Faded and short it shall be gal" said Barber Wallace to a very shy and nervous Amihan to describe what was about to become of her long old fashioned black hair.
“Big Change,” he says to her loudly as he started to pull her long hair out from under the cape.
"I am Wallace and I will be your barber” Amihan said nothing and tears started to drop on her face.
I just looked at my husband and smiled as he nodded his head in agreement.
“Amihan stop the tears girl” yelled my husband. Amihan trying to keep herself from getting more emotional about what was happening took in a deep breath and let it out. With that the barber was coming back around her with scissors and comb in hand.
He started combing out a section right on top of her head and held it between his fingers. Her eyes popped as she watched him move in with the scissors. SNIP SNIP SNIP, they closed right into her hair about an inch above her scalp. 60” of her hair rained down onto the cape in front of her very eyes.
He was quick to comb out the next section and SNIP SNIP SNIP. More of her hair was raining down over her shoulders and onto the cape. Barber Wallace worked his way up the top of my head reducing it to roughly 1.5” in length and moved his way over her right ear. The sound of the scissors was petrifying. With every snip more and more of Amihan’s hair would rain down into her lap. The right side was now completely cropped to roughly 1.5” in length like the top.
Barber Wallace came back tilting her head forward with his hand and started cutting toward the back behind her right ear now. He held up section after section at the back and sniped away vigorously reducing the length all the way down to a short crop across the back.
Amihan had her head tilted firmly down looking into the pile of hair that had gathered in her lap and could feel the weight getting lighter and lighter after each and every snip he took back there.
“Wow", I could here the girls distant for Juvenile Lock Up say out loud as the barber was cutting away. All Amihan could feel at this moment was embarrassment to be seen like this. The woman police officer looked at the girls and said “OH don’t laugh and stop the WOW crap... you will get your turn really soon, now get that smile off your faces…………..NOW”.
Barber was moving over to Amihan’s left side as he was cutting away at section after section and was now taking the last few locks away from over her left ear. He finished and the sound of the scissors finally went silent.
Her hair was very roughly cropped to about 1.5” all over her head. You could see every feature on her face and neck now that there was no more hair to hide behind anymore. Her cheeks stood out more noticeably now without her long hair.
Barber came back behind her again with something in his hand but she didn’t get a chance to see it other then the cord that was leading to it. He tilted her head straight down to her chest and all that could be heard was the sound of the Electric Andis Clippers pop on. Nrrrrrrr. The sound of them filled the room.
He had his hand on top of her head holding it straight down and she could feel the clippers being placed on her nape. They moved up the back of her head quickly in swift motions from her nape to her crown, pass after pass. He tilted her head to the left and I could see them work there way up behind her right ear. Then over her right ear pass after pass taking her hair down to very short peach fuzz. He came over to her left side and worked them over the left side as well.
He changed the head on the clippers and came back for some more tilting her head forward again.
He moved more slowly this time running them up her nape line creating a tight taper along her hairline all the way around the back and over her ears just like mine. “This is how we lower your ears,” He said to her cheerfully as he buzzed away at her hairline over her ear creating a tight fade.
Just as he had finished with the clippers, Datu my husband walks over to the barbers chair and tells the barber “can you a little shorter for these three sister‘s please pointing to the back and sides” and Master Barber replied “Sir … Yes ..Sir” with a smile on his face.
The Barber then picked up his Electric Andis Clippers yet again this time with no attachment comb / guard and took to her right side, then back and finally her left side and tapered it much shorter before finally taking a spray bottle and spraying the top of her hair making it soaking wet. The he took a hairbrush and hairdryer and started drying it straight back making it stick up on the top. When he finished it was all spiked up on the top of her head with a round shape.
He took the clippers yet again and a flat top comb and came back behind her. I watched as he took the comb and slid it into the top of her hair holding it horizontally all the way across. He moved in slowly with the clippers and ran them all the way across the top of the comb pass after pass creating a flattop shape on top of her head.
Datu was turned on already with my haircut and now I could see it in his eyes again. He asked "Barber Wallace go even shorter at the top to on her and other two sisters hair can ya!".
“Sir … Yes Can ….Sir….Sure thing" Barber Wallace responded to Datu with a smile on his face just as he looked at the younger female haircutter and said "next". The younger female haircutter then looked at Dalisay, Datu’s second sister and said with a loud and abrupt voice "move your bum gal now pointing her to the shampoo bowl".
Dalisay one year younger than Amihan looked at Datu in fear but only to hear him yell at her "you heard Dalisay move your bum before I carry you like a little girl !".
Here we were four down to earth Indian girls mesmerized watching each one of us undergo this transformation and how meticulously Barber Wallace worked at creating the shape. He worked slowly on the shape and took quite a bit of time until he was finally satisfied with it.
Barber Wallace moved in yet again with the clippers and ran them all the way across the top of the comb pass after pass creating an even shorter flattop shape on top of her head. Eventually he put the clippers down and hit the foam dispenser and white foam came out of it. He came back around her and applied the warm white foam to Amihan’s hairline across her nape and over her ears. He took a towel and placed it over her shoulder before he took a straight razor and ran it over a leather strap on the side of the chair.
He tilted her head straight forward as he did with mine and slid the razor into her nape scrapping it across the back of her neck. He ran them up over her right ear and down her right cheek. He went around to her left side and ran them over her left ear as well and down her other cheek. He wiped her hairline off with the towel and threw the towel into a bin. He put some lotion on his hand and applied it to her skin where he had just shaved. The smell was like a guy’s aftershave lotion and very cooling on her skin, I am sure.
Barber then took a dusting brush and poured some baby powder onto it. He brushed off her neck and over her ears and forehead while he loosened the cape. He slid the cape off of her shoulders allowing all of her long locks of hair to fall to the floor in front of her and pile up on top of the long tresses of my hair which he had shorn just before.
He took his hand mirror and showed her the back of her head.Suddenly the barber shop door opened and a Filipino man came in and dragged his crying teenage son with long hair covering his eyes at the front and just about touching his shoulders in. He looked at the younger Filipino haircutter standing behind the counter and said in a loud voice “Gusto kong kanyang mahabang bayani hinahanap buhok cut talagang maikling” which meant I want his long hero looking hair cut really short.
He pointed at his son who was crying as the female haircutter looked at Master Barber and said “namin na umiiyak ng batang lalaki dito na kailangang ginupitan, maaari mong gawin ang unang” meaning we have crying boy here who needs to shorn, can you do first?. Master Barber looked at Datu and said “it will only take a few minutes Sir…. Ok if I cut him first” and Datu replied “another crying child brat yes no problem ginoo (sir) ”.
Master Barber looked at the man and said “OK sa dito sa upuan na ito ngayon boy ilipat” OK over here in this chair now boy move as he pointed to the empty barbers chair next to the one that me and Amihan had sat to be shorn and Dalisay was about to follow.
The boy cried louder as the man dragged him by the hair with one hand to the barbers chair and forced him by almost pushing him onto the chair, then taking a pair of handcuffs from his pocket and saying to the barber “maaaring i gamitin ang mga posas upang matiyak na hindi siya gumalaw sa paligid ng masyadong maraming” can i use these handcuffs to make sure he does not move around too much? before securing the boys right hand to the barbers chair. Master Barber said yeah no problem ginoo (sir).
The man then looked at his son as Mater barber quickly grabbed a neck strip and wrapped it snug around his neck. Then he flung over another white cape around his shoulders pinning the cape snug around his neck and said “Bayani ihinto ang umiiyak tulad ng isang sook at magpaalam sa bayani hep ng buhok ...wala nang. Gusto ko ang kanyang buhok cut napaka napaka-ikling katulad na batang babae” Bayani stop crying like a sook and say goodbye to the hero hep of hair... no more. I want his hair cut very very short similar to that young girl as he pointed to Dalisay.
“Bang walang problema maikling ito ginoo” sure no problem short it will be sir said Master Barber to Bayani’s father as he moved towards the work bench and came back behind Bayani with something in his hand. But Bayani didn’t get a chance to see it other then the cord that was leading to it. He tilted Bayani’s head straight down to his chest and all that could be heard was the sound of the Electric Andis Clippers with the 3.75 - 1/2" blade pop on along with a sobbing boy. Nrrrrrrr. The sound of them filled the room.
All that could be seen was long lengths of thick black hair fall from the back of Bayani’s head to the floor like a heavy rain storm, the barber then moved to his right side and with one hand firmly holding the boys head took a number of passes up the side over his right ear leaving another pile of black tresses showing onto his lap.
Soon the barber tilted Bayani’s head back and placed the clippers at the front below his fringe and started at the hairline on the front of the scalp then slowly moved the clippers to the middle of the scalp and all the way to the back until all hair on top had been shorn off. Once that was complete he moved to the left side reducing Bayani’s hero style long hair to less than roughly 1.5” from side to side, top to bottom.For a few seconds all that could be heard was Bayani’s sobbing and his father telling Master Barber to cut it a lot shorter once and for all, “Barber upang i-cut ito ng maraming mas maikli sa sandaling at para sa lahat ng” and Master Barber replied “Sir hindi ko mag-alala” Sir I will, do not worry.
Master Barber now changed the blade on his clippers to 000 - 1/125 then came back behind Bayani once again and tilted hir head straight down to his chest again; all that could be heard was the sound of the Electric Andis Clippers pop on. Nrrrrrrr and the barber took to tapering the back of his head before changing the clipper blade once again to 0000 - 1/100 and creating a tight taper / faded effect along Bayani’s hairline all the way around the back before moving to right side followed by the left side and repeating the process and completing the tapered / faded finish. The sound of the clippers and Bayani’s sobbing filled the room.
He finished with the clippers and took a spray bottle and sprayed the top of the boy’s hair making it soaking wet. He took a hairbrush and hairdryer and started drying it straight back making it stick up on the top. When he finished it was all spiked up on the top of his head. He then took the clippers again with no guard and a comb and came back behind Bayani.
Bayani’s father watched and smiled as Master barber took the comb and slid it into the top of Bayani’s hair holding it horizontally all the way across. He moved in slowly with the clippers and ran them all the way across the top of the comb pass after pass creating a flattop shape on top of his head, the length of which was no more than a very short 1/16.
He tilted the boy’s head straightforward as he did with mine and others alike and slid the razor into his nape scrapping it across the back of boys’ neck. He ran them up over his right ear and down his right cheek. He went around to her left side and ran them over his left ear as well and down his other cheek. He wiped his hairline off with the towel and threw the towel into a bin. He put some lotion on his hand and applied it to his skin where he had just shaved. The smell was like a tough guy’s aftershave lotion and very cooling on the skin.
Bayani in Tagalog means the hero and thus this long hair sissy looking hero had been transformed back to a boy as he should be.
Barber then took a dusting brush and poured some baby powder onto it. He brushed off Bayani’s neck and over his ears and forehead while he loosened the cape. He slid the cape off of his shoulders allowing all of her long locks of hair to fall to the floor in front of his very own eyes and pile up on top of all the long tresses of hair which he had shorn just before.
He took his hand mirror and showed Bayani the back of his head before removing the cape and saying “lahat ng tapos na, ngayon siya mukhang tulad ng isang batang lalaki at hindi bayani kapatid na babae upang Boy itigil ang humihikbi” all done, now he looks like a boy and not hero sissy so Boy stop the sobbing to Bayani and his father.
Master Barber then moved to Dalisay who was already in the red barber’s chair where me and Amihan had been shorn all caped up and waiting to be shorn.
As Bayani’s father went to unlock the handcuffs ............................. .
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