Gent's Saloons in Goa have evolved.

[Tony de Sa]

What triggered this post was a trip to the barber's today and I got thinking about how Goan barber shops have evolved post liberation.

Immediately post liberation, gents saloons were rather rudimentary. It was quite a common practice then to have the village 'malo' call in at your place and give you a shave or trim. Before there is any demonstration in front of my house, let me hastily clarify that the use of the term malo is merely to refer to a barber and not to cast any slurs on any caste or class. This was fine because the malo also brought with him a slew of choice gossip and village news. News papers were scarce and unavailable in villages simply because the distribution system was not what it is today and the demand for papers was low. The barber saloons were few and far between. The Goan barber shops were called 'barberaria'. Barberaria Central in Panjim was about the best then.

Most of the gents saloons were pretty basic. A wooden chair or two, a wrinkled mirror, a grubby sheet to drape round you and a glass bottle with a contraption which sprayed water, a few cut-throat razors, sharp scissors and the barber was ready for business.

In those days, there were no concerns about AIDS and so the razor was just given a cursory brush and shake between customers.

Ladies saloons were a rarity and usually a neighbour or a friend who could wield a scissors with dexterity was elected to shear the ladies hair. Beauty parlours, per se, were scarce.

I remember that in boarding school, the barber would carry out an assembly line procedure and administer to four chaps at a time.

How things have changed today. The evolution of today's barber saloons today can be traced to the influx of the migrant barbers, quite a few  from Orissa.

They infused new techniques like head and body massages, facials for men, dyeing, curling, straightening and a host of other things like the disposable blade razor, electric shearing machines, etc.

The hygiene also underwent a sea change.

Here I would like to share a personal experience. Moira is somewhat between Mapusa and Aldona. Out of choice, I go to Aldona for my tonsorial minstrations. There is a guy, Shankar there who runs the local saloon. He started out as an employee of a Goan saloon owner, then bought him out and when he got the opportunity, bought another shop in a nearby complex. Now he has a chain of barber shops including my own village being run by relations/ clan members or neighbours. He speaks fluent Konkani and gives personal service. Fantastic entrepreneur skills. The whole industry has been taken over by guys like him.

In all this, I regret, the humble Goan barber has all but vanished.

Cheers,

Tony.

--
Tony de Sa
Ph: +91 832 2470148
E:  tony...@gmail.com  
M: +91 9975 162 897
-----------------------------------------------------------
GIVE US A SENSE OF HUMOR LORD,
GIVE US THE GRACE TO SEE A JOKE,
TO GET SOME HUMOR OUT OF LIFE,
AND PASS IT ON TO OTHER FOLK .
==============================

[augusto pinto]

Dear Tony

I like your essay.

Regarding,"Before there is any demonstration in front of my house, let

me hastily clarify that the use of the term malo is merely to refer to
a barber and not to cast any slurs on any caste or class."

Tony don't worry. Mhales sadly don't read moira-net [wish they would]

Yeah - this is a nice essay. Why don't you publish it somewhere?

Cheers
AUGUSTO

my tonsorial minstrations.

--
Augusto Pinto
40, Novo Portugal,
Moira, Bardez,
Goa, India
E pint...@gmail.com or ypin...@yahoo.co.in
P 0832-2470336
M 9881126350

[Frederick [FN] Noronha * फ्रेडरिक नोरोन्या]

Tony, you've obviously missed the superb Hyderabadi head-massages [http://www.google.co.in/search?q=Indian+head+massage&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a] that you can get at places like the Saligao tinto, till 9.30 pm, at a cost of Rs 15-20! FN

2008/10/29 augusto pinto <pint...@gmail.com>

Dear Tony

I like your essay.

Regarding,"Before there is any demonstration in front of my house, let
me hastily clarify that the use of the term malo is merely to refer to
a barber and not to cast any slurs on any caste or class."

Tony don't worry. Mhales sadly don't read moira-net [wish they would]

Yeah - this is a nice essay. Why don't you publish it somewhere?

Cheers
AUGUSTO


my tonsorial minstrations.

--
FN * Independent Journalist http://fn.goa-india.org
Blog: http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com
Tech links from South Asia: http://twitter.com/fn
M: +91-9822122436 P: +91-832-2409490

[augusto pinto]

Oops - forgot to mention that -" my tonsorial ministrations" -is a
very nice turn of phrase

[Evylyn Pinto-Willis]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Evylyn Pinto-Willis <evylyn.pi...@googlemail.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 29, 2008 at 7:26 PM
Subject: Re: [Moira-Net:2761] Re: Gent's Saloons in Goa have evolved.
To: moir...@googlegroups.com

How excellent for a topic of hair does.  It makes a great refreshing change from politics.

 

My hairdresser is a young woman called Maria who has a very pleasant unpretentious salon in the parade of shops next to my work place.  She specialises in mens hairdressing and is kept eternally buzy by the school boys who come out of the local promaru  school down the road, accompanied by their Mums for  hair do.  They always look smart and I thought to myself, with little time to go to pretentious hairdressers who charge the earth, I would have a quiet word in her ear and see if she could fit me in in my lunch hour. 

 

This is what she achieves.  I had a tiring morning at work, sat in the barber's chair as I call it and promptly fell asleep, after telling Maria that I needed a new look.  !5 minutes later she said "Its all don" and I looked at myself in the mirror hardly recognising the reflection.  Yes she makes you look and also feel 20 years younger.

 

Hail Maria.

 

Regards

 

EPWPW

[Richard de Souza]

On the note of hairdressers and all.  I just went for a walk into town. I had not realised before how many hairdressers had set up as on my short 5 - 10 minute walk into the town centre, I had passed, not one, not two, not even three or four, but six or so hairdressers/ barbers/ saloons ! Every single one was owned by Italians.  How the Italians populated my humble town of Bedford, is another story in itself!

 

After a quick look at the price of dinner suits in the town centre and after having rushed out of each in horror that the cheapest was £145 or so in my size, I walked back home trying to decide which hairdressers to go to for a haircut.  I clearly avoided two because they were full of woman, and it obviously looked like I needed an appointment.

 

I didn't want to go to the last one, as I've been there in the past and the Italian men there don't do a very good job and nearly cut of my ear once! (Slight exaggeration!) So I went to Vicenzos, and the lady who works there cut my hair. She was really nice and did an excellent job making it look smart in time for my dance competition.

 

Just one final thought before I go for a quick wash to stop the cut hair itching me, my hair contains my DNA, so Moidekar DNA is left in England, my father's was left in Uganda and his father's DNA was left most likely at a Goan 'barberaria'. Maybe some day Moidekar hair will be cut on the moon or somewhere far in space... it's already got so far in three generations!

 

RSPDS

 

 

PS If I have time next week will write about my forthcoming BBC charity dance competition. In the meantime, anyone care to share stories about Classical dance and traditional dances in Goa and in Moira? I heard some family homes had dance halls like my Correa ancestral house?

 

PPS Also, will try and write sometime about the Goan families of Bedford.

 

2008/10/31 Evylyn Pinto-Willis <evylyn.pi...@googlemail.com>

[floriano]

Tony/Richard,

Funny that you should open up on a subject that intrigues me, the 'mahlo' topic.

I could write a whole book on this magical person.

 

For one, I grew up to fear a harmless old guy 'Yesvont mahlo' from Kantorli. His grandchildren, I am happy to say, are still in his trade.

Afraid because we never wanted him to have a go at our hair. I even had my nut shaved just to hide those awful patches (khampam), the ridicule of the classroom.

 

I think the reason I have never sat on a 'mahlo's chair' for close to 30 years now is partly because of dear Yesvont and partly because they don't have 'mahlo(s) or Mahle(s) on board the ships. See how much I have s(h)aved in these thirty odd years?

 

I started shaving (in school) with a cut-throat my dad had given me as a present. "We have a C- Alvares here" was the remark our maths teacher Ms. Aida had made ( SFX Moira). Can you imagine me with a pencil line moosh at 17 a la C Alvares?

 

In my 25 odd years of sea service, I have given haircuts to most nationalities. It was difficult to say no when I couldn't bullshit when asked 'who cut your hair'

 

And at one time while I was giving a haircut to my Italian Captain (this is for Richard, one more italian barber) who by the way still visits me her in Goa every year here in Moira, this is the joke he told me which tickles me even today as I am writing it.

 

It so happened that a senhor Alexandro was a regular at his barber Vito. Since senhor was a company's sales manager, he often traveled out of Genova. And every time he came for a haircut, Vito would eagerly ask him where all he had been. You didn't visit Rome? he would ask disappointed. "No" senhor Alexandro would say. "But I will, some day". And Vito would say "Don't forget to see the Pope when you are in Rome and I want to hear all about it." 

 

Senhor Alexandro happened to come to visit Vito's  after quite a gap. "Did you visit Rome ?  was the automatic question Vito asked of senhor Alexandro as soon as he settled him on the chair.

 

"As a matter of fact, Yes" said senhor Alexandro and the whole world stopped for Vito. 'Did you get to see the Pope? Vito was all ears. 

 

"Yes, I got to see the Pope, said senhor Alexandro". 

Vito had thousand and one question ready to come out, but he eagerly waited for senhor to relate the scene. "Tell me all about it " he said. 

 

'"There were many people, when we visited St. Peter's" ,  o senhor told Vito. "And I had never even dreamt that I would be so close to the Pope".  Vito had stopped working and was taking in every word  with his mouth open. " Then suddenly, the Pope looked directly at me,  his charming smile gone from his face, and started actually walking  towards me. When he reached me, I went down on my knees and as I was going to grab his hand to kiss it, the hand caught hold of my head and he turned it this way and that and actually  made a full circle around me, inspecting my head very critically. I din't know what to say. Then he asked me where I was from. I said Genova. Then he asked me who was my barber. I said it is Vito, a charming fellow I know for a long time. "You will do better never to go to him again" he told me shaking his head. "He has given you a terrible haircut".

 

Sensing there was no response, senhor Alexandro opened his eyes to see Vito gone.

 

And BTW I do not use the latest gadgets like trimmers etc. I use the good old comb and scisors. How I manage is a million dollar question. :-))

 

cheers

floriano

9890470896

 

 

---- Original Message -----

From: Tony de Sa

To: moir...@googlegroups.com ; Goa's Premiere Mailing List, Estd 1994

Sent: Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:46 PM

Subject: [Moira-Net:2754] Gent's Saloons in Goa have evolved.

What triggered this post was a trip to the barber's today and I got thinking about how Goan barber shops have evolved post liberation.

Immediately post liberation, gents saloons were rather rudimentary. It was quite a common practice then to have the village 'malo' call in at your place and give you a shave or trim. Before there is any demonstration in front of my house, let me hastily clarify that the use of the term malo is merely to refer to a barber and not to cast any slurs on any caste or class. This was fine because the malo also brought with him a slew of choice gossip and village news. News papers were scarce and unavailable in villages simply because the distribution system was not what it is today and the demand for papers was low. The barber saloons were few and far between. The Goan barber shops were called 'barberaria'. Barberaria Central in Panjim was about the best then.

Most of the gents saloons were pretty basic. A wooden chair or two, a wrinkled mirror, a grubby sheet to drape round you and a glass bottle with a contraption which sprayed water, a few cut-throat razors, sharp scissors and the barber was ready for business.

----- Original Message -----

From: Richard de Souza

To: moir...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Saturday, November 01, 2008 7:16 PM

Subject: [Moira-Net:2783] Re: Fwd: [Moira-Net:2761] Re: Gent's Saloons in Goa have evolved.

On the note of hairdressers and all.  I just went for a walk into town. I had not realised before how many hairdressers had set up as on my short 5 - 10 minute walk into the town centre, I had passed, not one, not two, not even three or four, but six or so hairdressers/ barbers/ saloons ! Every single one was owned by Italians.  How the Italians populated my humble town of Bedford, is another story in itself! .............

 

 

[Jose Da Gama Pais]

Dear Floriano / Tony

 

I am amused to read this topic and feel Nostalgic with what Floriano wrote.

He has hit it Spot on, There are no Barbers onboard ships, someone automatically becomes the designated one.

and then if there is more than one its even better as then there is a competition to prove who gave a better service.

 

Normally it used to be a for a service fee of a few beers when it was available on Tankers now its a tee-totaller zone.

and lastly the story on gadgets has changed today where every ship buys its own equipment meant for the ship using the money of the ship's club. Its the latest sophisticated electric trimmer with all the adapters to give you a uniform look and have the size of hair to your desire. So for all these years I have surely saved a lot of money which would have been used on my hair.

 

Cheers

JDGP

 

On 11/1/08, floriano <floria...@gmail.com> wrote:

 

and partly because they don't have 'mahlo(s) or Mahle(s) on board the ships. See how much I have s(h)aved in these thirty odd years?

In my 25 odd years of sea service, I have given haircuts to most nationalities. It was difficult to say no when I couldn't bullshit when asked 'who cut your hair'

 

[bernard thamm]

Hi Jose,

 

Is the hair still there or is it growing where it should not?

 

Cheers,

Bernhard

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[Jose Da Gama Pais]

Hello Amigo Bernard

 

Its growing and growing.. and now suddenly becoming "WHITE".

Matare Zataum Mhore Saiba..

 

Mog Asundi.

Jose Da Gama Pais

 

[Tony de Sa]

Wow,

I had thought that with Appulo the local barber falling prey to the timber trade, the last bastion of the indigenous Goan Moidekar barber had finally crumbled.

Now we have the startling revelation that we harboured in our bosom a brace of tonsorial artists!

Wow! again.

Can you guys Floriano and Jose also give a good massage?

I can save myself 40 bucks and a trip to Aldona.

Tony


--
With best wishes and regards,
Tony
============================
Tony de Sa
Ph: +91 832 2470 148 M: +91 9975162897
E:  tonydesa at gmail dot com  

-----------------------------------------------------------
Things do not change; we change.
- Henry David Thoreau
================================

[floriano]

We shippies are used to doing balanced rope-walking acts called the 'Vietnamese massage' on the verterbral columns. Tony is welcome  if he feels his can withstand the 'toe' and the 'heel' bites.

 

And there could be a lot more interesting things thrown in which the  (in news) Asolna pedophile would be blue about.

And who knows, you might even walk home with pockets full, not just pidly 40 buck

(Tony excuse. I copied your photogenic smiley). 

 

floriano

9890470896  

----- Original Message -----

From: Tony de Sa

To: moir...@googlegroups.com

[Tony de Sa]

Dear Floriano,

My persuasions run straight as a line between two points a la Euclid and none of your Assolna Homer stuff for me.

Thanks for the offer but I don't intend to be bitten or blown.

[augusto pinto]

Dears

Just a footnote to this topic:

I went for a haircut to the Moira barber today, who rents the shop in the Panchayat building,  owned by Prakash the Panch member,

[Incidentally some other Panch member/s had also cornered shops in that building if I mistake not. Strange isn't it how some people have all the luck? Now who was it who said he had who was so much instrumental in constructing the Moira Panchayat house? I must say that I am getting old pretty fast the way my memory is going]

Anyway, the reason I wrote was that Tony said:

"How things have changed today. The evolution of today's barber saloons today can be traced to the influx of the migrant barbers, quite a few  from Orissa."

Actually these barbers are mainly from Andhra Pradesh if I am not mistaken.

Tony says the barber which was synonymous with the 'mhalo' caste," has all but vanished."  Maybe he's right,but It may be worth studying this more closely, as Chandra's son still plies his trade in Nachinola. Incidentally in the bad old days, barbers often doubled up to perform some para-medical tasks, such as 'bleeding' people with the help of leeches, as a cure for high blood pressure, [ Just can't get the Konkani term for this, my memory you see...] and also doing some minor operations.

Nowadays hairstyling has become a respectable profession for women, and many men prefer to go o some ladies hairdressers .Also some men have made the profession of hairstylist [not barber ;-)] -a very up market one. Something akin to what the chef is vis-a-vis the cook.

For instance that Mario Miranda the cartoonist's son Raul studied this in England and is apparently a very successful hairstylist in America. Just a few decades ago could it even be conceivable for a Bamon, that too one of those 'aristocratic' Portuguese speaking Bamons could set up shop basically as a 'mhalo'?

Cheers
Augusto

[Tony de Sa]

Right on the nail, Augusto, I stand corrected. Andhra Pradesh it is.

Tony

[Evylyn Pinto-Willis]

You may be interested that it doesn't take much to be a "Fashion" hair cutter these days.  My husband gets his hair done every 3 weeks and I am his hairdresser.  I invested in the kit a few years ago and am quite a dab hand at a number 1 or 2 or even a 3.

 

Perhaps when I visit Moira next I should bring along the kit and have a workshop at the Club??? Any comments will be graciously recieved.

 

Cheers

 

EPWPW

[augusto pinto]

Evylyn Pinto-Wilis wrote

 
"Perhaps when I visit Moira next I should bring along the kit and have a workshop at the Club??? Any comments will be graciously recieved."

My dear sster, kindly do nothing off the sort. I do not want decent Bamons like us disgraced by the likes of you posing as tonsorial ministration experts. We have had enough and more trouble in our family to raise ourselves  from being peasants of Sangolda , to becoming  decent respectable middle-class citizens of Novo Portugal, Moira, and Orsett, Essex..

So you will kindly not do anything to lower the status of our family being decent Bamons to becoming - you know - Mhales - or something.

Apprehensively [for Pintos are very unpredictable,]
Sincerely

[Richard de Souza]

What a great idea Evylyn!

I grew up not going to the hairdressers as we always did it at home! Initially it was my mother with a handy pair of sharp scissors, then we bought a haircutting kit (equipped with everything you need!) and my brother and sister learnt and cut my hair, my other brother's, my parents' and each others'!

 

I think it's a great idea to take your kit along and help out those in Moira !

 

RSPDS

2008/11/4 Evylyn Pinto-Willis <evylyn.pi...@googlemail.com>

http://moirafamily.tribalpages.com/