Due to the lockdown in Karachi, all the shops are closed. Shopping malls, restaurants, department stores, barber shops, etc. So, not being able to get a haircut is a common problem for all, especially men and boys. I will tell you of an incident which will lighten the mood in these gloomy times.

My brother’s hair had grown very long, and it looked like a shaggy mane of a Shetland pony. It was covering his eyes, ears and the nape of his neck. Whenever he did homework, my mum used to make him wear a headband.

One day my mother couldn’t manage it anymore, so she decided to cut his hair. She spread a mat in the porch and put a chair on it. She took her special sharp scissor like the barber’s and a water spray bottle and wet his hair.

My dad suggested that she should use his trimmer. She thought that was a splendid idea, so it was brought outside too. As my mother started to cut my brother’s hair with the trimmer, he let out a howl of anguish.

“What happened, darling?” my mum quickly asked.

A trickle of blood ran down my brother’s forehead, answering my mum’s question. My dad sauntered through the porch whistling happily, but when he saw the blood, he stopped dead in his tracks.

“What? How?” he asked in bewilderment.

My mum raised the trimmer in an apologetic manner. My dad wiped my brother’s head with a tissue. Luckily, it was just a small scratch. Nothing to worry about. So, the process of my mum being a barber restarted. The hair was being cut perfectly when the trimmer ran out of charge. My mum groaned while my brother let out a sigh of impatience. Then my mum continued the cutting with the scissors.

Suddenly, my brother jerked and some locks tumbled down. Oops! An almost perfect haircut got ruined by one wrong snip of the scissors too close to the scalp and there was a gap in otherwise well-cut hair on the front. My brother looked like he had gotten hold of a pair of scissors and had given himself a DIY haircut. My mum dropped the scissors rather loudly as she gasped.

My brother dashed inside to looked at himself in the mirror and screamed, “My hair!”

My mum burst into tears and apologised to my brother. At this, my brother who had been on the verge of tears, quickly recovered on seeing tears in mum’s eyes. My mum remained upset the whole day that her plan had ended up in a disaster.

My dear friends, after this incident I’d like to advise you not to worry too much about getting a haircut unless it is absolutely needed. And if something like this happens, don’t worry, your hair will grow back soon. Plus, who’s going to see you in this lockdown?

Published in Dawn, Young World, May 23rd, 2020