At Blessing Indian Remy Hair Exports factory in Delhi’s Kirti Nagar. A 150-kg ‘hair piece’ is worth around Rs 3,500. (Express photo by Tannu Jain)
Between the grimy automobile warehouses in A-block of the Kirti Nagar industrial area is a forlorn three-storey factory. The stairs leading up to the main factory floor on the first floor are strewn with lumps of hair. A strong smell of shampoo lingers as do the clatter of sewing machines and indistinct chatter.
It’s 2.30 pm at Blessing Indian Remy Hair Exports, a wig factory in the Capital. Lunch has just ended and five women sit on chairs, some with legs stretched languidly as Sooraj hua madhham plays on a radio. Some hum along as they stitch long, black locks of hair into extensions. In a corner, a person sits by a machine weaving hair onto an elastic band.
The post-lunch lethargy is broken by production supervisor Najia’s stern “dhyan se (carefully)” instruction as she walks past. Najia, 25, came to the Capital four years ago as a refugee from Afghanistan. She says she has been working at the factory for two years — seven days a week, mostly on the 10.30 am to 6.30 pm shift, for a monthly commission that is tied to the factory’s sales figures.
Najia is one of only four regular workers at the factory; the others — around 20 — change every six months. “The management does that to prevent thefts… These are common as human hair is worth a lot,” she says.
“Look at this,” she says, holding up a tuft that she calls a ‘hair piece (usually a set of hair extensions or a hair patch)’. “This weighs 150 g and is sold for around $50 — about Rs 3,500… To someone who has lost her hair — for whatever reason — this hair is priceless,” she says.
Earlier this week, a wig maker in Delhi’s Nangloi area was robbed of close to 230 kg of hair. “That man would have lost Rs 40 lakh,” she says, as she makes entries into a register.
Much of the supply of hair to this factory is from Kolkata, Haryana and Punjab, with Gujarat the latest entrant. But the bulk still comes from Tirupati’s Balaji temple, where devotees donate hair to get wishes fulfilled. The donated hair is tied up and dunked in oil before it is auctioned to reach wig makers. The cost of a kilo of medium-length hair (10-12 inches), explains Najia, is over Rs 15,000.
“Once it comes to us, a single hair piece requires a processing time of two days. The first thing we do is use a wide comb with steel bristles to do preliminary cleaning and detangling,” she says, walking over to Naveen Nath, 32, who is sitting on the floor, shredding damaged hair from a combed tuft of hair.
One of the regular employees, Nath has been in this profession 20 years. “I cut out damaged hair or hair that cannot be untangled,” he says. Around 30 per cent hair goes waste due to damage. The hair is then washed, conditioned, coloured and left to dry in the sun for about two days.
Najjia now logs into her email to check for any new orders, all the while explaining the trade. “There are two broad categories of hair: remy and non-remy. Remy is hair that comes from single donors and non-remy is usually a mix of hair from different donors — what we get from salons. Remy needs only conditioning and colouring, but to make non-remy hair look natural, we have to use stronger chemicals like silicon,” she says.
Depending on whether this processed hair is turned into a wig, a hair patch or extensions, it is stitched onto net patches or elastic bands. “Separating each hair and stitching are the most tedious jobs. It’s specialised work — the separated hair needs to be put into the net by the end of the cuticle or it gets tangled. Each hair strand is woven into the piece,” she says, adding, “We sort through 700-800 kg of hair a month.”
It’s a little over 5 pm when Shamsuddin, 38, a dealer who picks up extensions and hair patches to make wigs at his workshop in Uttam Nagar, arrives. “Das-barah inch extension ke chaar piece de do (Give me four pieces of the 10-12 inch hair extensions),” he says.
“A whole wig takes at least 15 days to make. The top patch is made of net, and then hair sewn on elastic bands is stitched around it to cover the whole head. But there isn’t much demand for wigs; hair extensions are more popular,” Shamsuddin adds.
She says that of the factory’s products, remy hair in lengths of 10 to 15 inches and in natural colours is the most sought after. Most of the hair extensions and wigs are exported to African nations, Hollywood and Italy – “for all their models and actors”, she says.
What are the other challenges apart from watching out for thefts? “Nits,” says Najia, “…90 per cent of the hair has lice. Initially we used to be disgusted. But apparently, lice are good for hair. They massage the scalp and i crease blood circulation, making hair stronger and smoother,” she says.
Grey hair is another issue. “We can’t allow even a single strand. It’s only occasionally, when an older person seeks a hair piece, that we use a few grey hair strands,” she says.
It’s 6.15 pm now, only a few minutes for Najia’s shift to end, after which she will leave for home — the refugee camp in Tilak Nagar — where her two younger brothers and parents wait for her. “The money isn’t enough, but I am grateful I have a job. I have never felt embarrassed about what I do. If nothing else, I now know the value of my hair,” she smiles.