I am very thankful to God that he has blessed me with quite a few skills, one of which is hair-cutting. Having said this, I must admit that I am not an expert in the job but I can get by. I believe God has bestowed upon us gifts or skills to use. The Bible also tells us “…fan into flame the gift of God…” (2 Timothy 1:6, NIV), the meaning of which, as I understand, is we should aim to use our gifts to the fullest degree.
So, as I came out of my house in and headed toward Satdobato, Lalitpur, I saw a man in dirty clothes sitting on the side of a pavement. His hair was long and disheveled. A little voice told me: “He desperately needs you.” Responding to the voice, I asked the man politely: “Shall I cut your hair?” He instantly agreed with a nod and a word ‘OK’. I asked him whether he had eaten anything to which he replied he hadn’t. I assured him that after a haircut I would buy him something to eat.
I opened my bag and took out the pair of scissors and a comb. I tried to run the comb through his hair but soon I found that it was clotted. So I began to push the scissors through the clogged hair and cut. Soon people who were passing by stopped, and others came to watch the scene. They frowned and shrank their noses and a few even spat in disgust. Some looked at me suspiciously and began to talk cynically. “Who is this person?” A woman inquired. “He looks like a social worker,” another man remarked. “They have some organizations and he must have come from one of them,” another gentleman said. “I asked Subba to have a bath last time but he didn’t show any interest. He has so many lice and they fall as he scratches his hair,” said another man. Now I came to know that the name of the person I was giving the hair-cutting service to was Subba.
Watching the spectacle and listening to the talk of other people, a woman must have felt desperate to know who the person cutting the hair of an insane was. She dared to move closer to me and asked: “Where are you from Babu?” At this I felt a bit awkward. I was not at all interested in getting involved in a conversation. I was more interested in the work. So I pleaded her to allow me to finish the job first.
I was surprised at the amount of sand and dust his hair contained. Surprisingly, believe it or not, I didn’t notice a single lice.
I felt so good at heart and thanked God for the opportunity when I saw Subba sitting still and enjoying the haircut. I wanted to know when he had his last haircut but there was no way I could know. If his mind could remember, he probably wouldn’t be there unattended and uncared for. He would be working and probably taking care of himself and his family.
After the haircut, I washed his hair at the tap near a temple. I handed him a pair of trousers that was in my bag and asked him to change. He had worn two pairs of old and dirty trousers. He instantly took off one but for the second he hesitated. He asked: “Is there a towel?” I was surprised at this; he still had some sense of shame. I told him to change it just behind the well where nobody would see him and he did. One woman brought a white vest, a shirt and a pair of trousers for him. Now Subba looked a normal man with a new haircut, fresh look and clean clothes.
Now it was time for Subba to eat something as I had promised earlier. As there was a general strike, there were no restaurants open nearby. I thought a treat of fruit would be good for him. I asked: “Would you like to have some fruit?” He nodded and I asked him to follow me as I headed toward a banana vendor. I thought it would be a good experience for him to buy something but he stayed a few yards behind.
I bought a dozen of bananas and went near him. I asked him to sit down and he did. At first, I peeled one banana and handed it to him. He took it, broke it into two halves, and gobbled it down. No sooner had he finished the first one than he stretched his hand asking for more. He must have been very hungry. I fed him up to seven bananas and told him to carry the rest so that he could have them later. After that, I bade goodbye to him and went my way.
I felt great peace inside being able to cut and wash his hair, change his clothes and feed something. The opportunity reminded me that we don’t necessary need to be rich or have a lot of time to make a difference in someone’s life; what we just need is a kind and serving heart.
paudyal.ezra@gmail.com
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