KOZHIKODE: They might not have the native looks. They might not feed hot local gossips either. But they can as well cut and shave as the native barbers and could even trim their customers in tune with the buzzing trends.After hotels and construction sites, beauty salons are the new avenues for migrant labourers in Kozhikode. Military cutting, mushroom, spike cut, shaving, facial, massage, threading, dyeing and colouring; just pick your choice and the Hindi-speaking beauticians are at your service.“Migrant labourers in construction and hotel sector are quite familiar to the city.Now their participation in the barber shop jobs is moving up. Shortage of local people leads to the increase in the number of migrant workers in this sector. The wages for them are also affordable,” says K P Santosh, proprietor of Soft Hair and Salon, West Nadakkavu.Mohammed Ali, a 26-year-old and 21-year-old Sharooq, both hailing from Delhi, are the staff at the salon. A daily wage of `250 has been fixed for the two workers and gives extra payments considering the business.The saloons and gents beauty parlours on Mavoor Road, Palayam and East Nadakkavu are also occupied by North Indian staff. “Around 70 per cent of the workers in the barber shops in Kozhikode city are outsiders. Earlier, labourers from Tamil Nadu occupied these jobs, says Renjith Kumar, owner of Balu’s Hair Styles and Beauty Parlour on Mavoor Road. The influx of migrant barbers to the city started around one year ago. Language is not a bar, as most of them learn essential Malayalam words quickly and also switch between English and Hindi, he adds.Asif Ali, who work at Balu’s Hair Styles and Beauty Parlour and a native of Andheri in Mumbai, has been staying in Kozhikode for one year and is apparently happy working and living in the city. Another staff of the shop, Ali, hails from New Delhi. “We are happy here. We enjoy the porotta and fish curry. We love Bollywood cinemas. There was a huge rush for Ra One in the theatre here,” says Sharooq. Mohammed and Sharooq stay near Kozhikode Railway Station with their friends.Barbers from other states are working in Kasargod, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta and Thiruvananthapuram too. While North Indians are becoming common in Perumbavoor in Ernakulam, barbers from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are working in other three districts.Like migrant workers in other sectors, barbers are also not associated with anytrade unions or associations. The general secretary of the Kerala State Barbers-Beauticians Association E S Shaji said that they are ready to give membership for the migrant barbers. “They are not aware of the organisational power and privileges offered by the government. We will demand the government to include all those who are working in this sector in the welfare schemes implemented by the state government,” says Shaji.Chairman of Kerala Beauticians Association Aryanad Mohan says that many of the employers are exploiting the migrant labourers by giving low wages.
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