Teenage sisters in India dress as boys to run paralysed father's hair salon

Both girls behave like a boy to avoid any possible nuisance by male customers

Two teenage girls from India have appeared as a role model for the society due to their sheer courage and perseverance. The two sisters started running a gents hair salon to ensure that their family doesn’t starve and they can complete their study also.

The girls did not come into the business on their own but rather had a little option not to after their father Dhruv Narayan, who ran the barbershop, suffered serious paralytic attack five years ago and was confined to his bed, Al Arabiya reported.

Narayan was running the shop at his native Banwari Tola village in Kushinagar, an eastern district of Uttar Pradesh state. It was with the nominal income that he generated from this hair salon that he solemnised the marriage of four of his six daughters.

His two daughters, Jyoti Kumari, 13, and Neha Kumari, 11, were now his only responsibility, who were enrolled in a government school then. But things did not went according to plans when Narayan in 2014, suffered a serious paralytic attack, which left him bedridden.

With their hair salon close to be on the verge of a shutdown and no alternative source of income at their disposal, Narayan family were living in poverty. It was then that the elder daughter Jyoti picked up this pretty old career of cutting hair for men in order to revive their father's salon.



She had no option but to learn this new trait for the sake of her family.
Ultimately, Jyoti decided to take challenges head-on. But in order to handle male customers, she devised a new idea and underwent a complete transformation overnight!

She now dressed herself as a man, sported boy’s hairstyle, wore a stainless steel bracelet in hand before coming into her father salon and getting into the job.

Jyoti also changed her name as “Deepak” and behaved like a boy to dodge male customers and avoid any possible nuisance by them.
Eventually, her younger sister too followed up on her profession. By the time, when people came to know about their truth, the sisters had gained enough confidence to run the business.

PHOTO: AL ARABIYA

Today everyone is familiar with their work and praise on them for their courageous acts, which has brought their poor family from sheer poverty. “It was indeed a tough job to shave beards and get gents’ hair cut but I had no option. But for my initiative, my family would have died of starvation. Today I am happy to inform you that I am not only meeting all expenses of my parents but also treating my father from the income generated from this hair cutting salon,” says Jyoyi alias Deepak who has passed grade 12 examination. Now, her younger sister Neha too has also joined the profession.

According to Jyoti, she faced multiple challenges when she chose to handle male customers. “The overall situation was so tough at the beginning that I had to undergo a complete transformation and change my physical appearance to look like a boy. Today everyone knows that we are girls but we don’t fear anything since we have gained enough confidence now,” she adds. She earns something between Rs400 to Rs500 per day.

Their mother, Leelavati Devi is proud of their daughters. “I am proud of the way they bravely ran hair cutting shop and extricated the family out of the crisis. It’s due to them we are alive,” said Leelavati.

This article originally appeared in the Al Arabiya.