Every Sunday, in a small space in front of Aanoor Mohammad Abdul Kader Fruit Merchant stall at the Koyambedu Wholesale Market, there will be people waiting their turn — to have their hair cut and styled. A.S. Subramanian, who runs a fruit shop in front of the Kader’s stall, does these haircuts, for free.
“Initially, I was doing haircuts for my friends, who also run fruit shops at the market. Subsequently, other workers sought a free haircut, and I started obliging them,” says Subramanian, who is 45 years old.
Hailing from Kilarungunam, a small farming village in Tindivanam taluk in Villupuram district, Subramanian learnt the nuances of hair cutting with the long scissors used his elder sister, A.S. Sumathi, who was a tailor at the village before she joined the Government Primary School in the village as teacher. He would try out his newfounded haircutting skills on old residents in the village. After shifting to Chennai seeking better job opportunities and finding employment as a loadsman at the Koyambedu Wholesale Market, Subramanian started puttting his haircutting skills to use once again, offering free haircuts to workers at the wholesale market.
Later, at the request of people visiting the wholesale market, he started offering free haircuts to boys at few orphanages, says Subramanian.
Besides the free haircuts, Subramanian also spends his leisure time writing Tamil poetry and lyrics for television serials.