Barbers at Kashi ghats hope for biz revival

Time: Around 8am on Monday, June 8, 2020
Place: Manikarnika Ghat, the ‘mahashamshan’ (cremation ghat) in Kashi, where pyres are said to keep burning always
Scene: Barbers sitting with their tools in the verandah of the office of their 76-year-old guild, Shri Nai Committee Manikarnika Ghat, along with sanitizer and mask as new additions, waiting for clients as Unlock 1.0 has begun.
The committee, established in 1944, had 64 ghat barbers as members, but today there are just 12. Unlike other barbers working in saloons and beauty parlours, these ‘ghat’ barbers exclusively perform rituals like ‘mundan sanskar’ and shradh (last rites) on the banks of the holy Ganga.
“Ek to waise hi humare bachche is dhandhe mein aana nahi chahte hain, upar se is lockdown ne to humari kamar hi tod di (Our children don’t wish to join this profession, moreover this lockdown has broken us completely),” said Kishan Thakur, a middle-aged barber, whose son is studying in an English medium school and aims to pursue some other profession.
Kashi’s traditional ghat barbers, who are already facing challenges due to change in social mindset, have been hit hard by long Covid-19 lockdown. The barbers are solely dependent on their ‘yajmans’ (clients) and pilgrims. As the ghats have been wearing a deserted look due to lockdown restrictions, their income has been nil, making their life miserable.
“Ye to Ganga maiyya aur Baba Vishwanath ki kripa hai ki hum jee rahe hain (It is the grace of Mother Ganga and Baba Vishwanath that we are alive),” said Sandeep Sharma, president of the committee.
“We stayed home during lockdown and had no income. Now, we have started gathering at the ghat with hope of some earning. But it seems ‘achchhe din abhi door hain’ (good days are still away),” said Sunil Sharma, lamenting that the earnings in their occupation have already been shrinking rapidly due to changes in society.
There is another category of ghat barbers at Manikarnika ghat who offer their service only to people coming with funeral processions.
“We give our services round-the-clock,” said 81-year-old Fauzdar Sharma, who works in day shift, while his brother Santosh Sharma remains present at ghat during night hours. They are also members of same committee, but sit separately.
They are in a better position as the arrival of bodies for cremation continued during lockdown also, though in far less numbers. “Before lockdown, over 200 bodies used to reach the ghat for cremation per day,” said Fauzdar, adding that the arrival of bodies from outside stopped during lockdown reducing the number to 20-25 per day.