My Favourite Barber Shop

I have been going to this same barber shop for the past 10 years. I first started to frequent this place to get my haircut because it was the nearest one to the house I rented when I got married in 2000. I still preferred to go there even after moving to a new house in 2004 which was further away than the one I rented. I moved house again last year, and yet I could not helped but keep returning to the same barber shop every 3 weeks. Wow.....this also reminds me that I’ve stayed in Lumut area for 8 out of the 10 years of being married.....hmmm.

A berbershop pole similar to this can be found at almost any barbershop, including at Kedai Gunting Rambut Muhibah

This particular barber at the shop, a fairly young chap, has been doing my haircut fairly regularly. There are normally between 1-3 barbers in there and more often than not I somehow manage to end up in his chair. He always dresses smartly, donning a neatly pressed long sleeve shirt and long pants. He’ll greet me with a smile when I come in, and will call me ‘Boss’ when it’s my turn.

Anyway, tonight I went there again to this ‘Kedai Gunting Rambut Muhibah’ for my regular haircut. This time the same barber was alone in the shop. He was enjoying a Gardenia Bun, which I later assumed to be his dinner, but at the sight of me entering he quickly stopped eating and said ‘Boss’ and pointed to his barber chair. I told him that I could wait and helped myself to getting a magazine from the rack while he finished his dinner. Within a few minutes I was ushered to sit on his chair to begin the usual routine of making my hair back to military standard again.

This is not the barbershop I'm writing about, although very similar in nature.  I went to this one in Lumut because my friend Chris who came to visit from Switzerland suddenly had the urge to have a 'cheap' haircut.

This guy has his own method in carrying out his duty. And he is very polite I must say. He is very precise, he does the same thing every time he cuts my hair. I like getting a hair cut from him although he does need to be reminded to make my hair shorter on top. He does everything with precision, from using the electric cutter, then moving on to using the scissors…snip!...snip and finally using a freshly opened disposable razor to shave and clean the edges of my hair. The best part is that he will massage my scalp, my neck and my shoulder and finally completing his ritual by cracking my neck. Yup, he must have been trained to do this as the other barbers at the shop stop at only massaging the scalp. He will clear as much hair as possible from my scalp once he is done, and then he will rub cheap hair cologne/tonic all over my hair. The smell…ooolaaalaa but I don’t mind. Straight to the shower immediately upon returning home with no stopover in between! All that pampering for a meagre RM6. What a treat.

Guess how long has he been doing this to my hair.....4 years!!!! Amazing!!! Even more amazing, is the fact that I never knew his name before this. Very sad on my part, yes I know. I do talk to him and the other barbers, but very little I must admit. So tonite I started a conversation with him, Murgis who hails from Chennai, India. Murgis, I assume the spelling based on how his name sounded to me, has been in Malaysia for 4 years now. He learned his trait of cutting hair in India for 1 year before coming to Malaysia to ply his trade here. Murgis is a bachelor and stays at a rented room on the upper floor of a bookshop nearby. He told me that one of the barbers has gone back for a vacation to India for 2 months. His turn to go back will be next year. It’s cheap to travel back to India, ‘Only RM1 ticket with Air Asia’ he said and he further explained that there are frequent flights by Air Asia to Chennai and many other cities in India.

Murgis is from Chennai India

Why am I taking the time to write this entry about Murgis. It is because he has been an important part of my life. His little role of cutting my hair every 3 weeks has been one of the little treats I look forward to. Why??? I guess the 15-20 minutes I sit in his chair is one of the most peaceful moment that I could enjoy after a long and hectic day.....to the extent of almost falling asleep at times. I guess his shop is one of those sanctuaries I have been using to escape a little bit from all the stress and pressure I face daily. A three weekly therapy so to say. Despite the many barbershops in the area, I keep wanting to go here.....for 10 years already. Go figure. So Murgis, thanks to you and thanks to the rest of the barbers at Kedai Gunting Rambut Muhibah. And I regret I only realise this today, so I pledge that I will talk more to Murgis and the other barbers and will try to appreciate them more for their little contribution in making life a little better to me.