Since 1934.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

The first thing that arrests the gaze is the row of hand-woven chairs with polished wooden armrest. You no longer see such super-elegant chairs. They must be truly old. Then the gaze is hijacked by the three low-hanging fans suspended from the unusually high ceiling. One of these has to be an antique—indeed it doesn’t function anymore, and is here merely for the show. Then the gaze turns to the grand entry door, as tall as two Amitabh Bachchans.

Finally, you notice the celebrity in the room—storyteller Fouzia. Delhi’s pioneering woman dastango, she is having her hair coloured (reddish-brown, if you must know). Fouzia has been a patron of SRG Unisex Salon since 2002. The initials in the salon’s name stand for Shamsur Rahim Gaur, the salon’s founder. His grandson Mujeeb Ur Rehman now administers the landmark. Standing in Connaught Place since 1934, the establishment is almost as old as the colonial-era shopping arcade. (One of CP’s other landmarks, Oriental Food Mart, came up in 1935.)

Despite a major restoration a decade ago, when the salon dismantled its wooden cabins, the place evokes an intense feel of heritage. Yet it doesn’t overdo the bhoola-bhisra nostalgia. Unless you count Michael Jackson as nostalgia. This afternoon, his hits are playing in the salon. In fact, the in-house music tend to be English pop numbers from the 1960s to 2000s, those being the favourite of the aforementioned Mujeeb, the salon’s premier stylist. The man is dapper, presently dressed in brown shoes with red laces, blue denim pants clasped tight with a DSQUARED2 logo-buckle leather belt, and black-rimmed Phillip Lim glasses. (And he commutes on an Enfield!) Indeed, the stylish Mujeeb must be vastly different in appearance from his great-grandfather, who was a Sufi mystic, and whose shrine lies in UP.

While salons are for haircuts, facials, etc, you have to come to this CP salon to also see how this long-time landmark maintains a reverence to its heritage, yet simultaneously manages to emit contemporary vibes. Drop by at 4pm, when the salon people might treat you to a cup of tasty chai that they source from a nearby vendor. This moment, Mujeeb is enjoying that same chai, sitting on one of his elegant chairs, while storyteller Fouzia is being attended to by his colleague Simmy—see photo. (The other colleague, Dinesh, is busy elsewhere in the salon).