This Mumbai Barber Is Providing Free Service To Frontline Corona Warriors

Santosh Anant Borhade owns a salon called Soham, near Sandhurst Road station. On better days, Borhade does 10 haircuts, which is nearly half of what he provided before the lockdown.

"When salons and beauty parlours were barred from functioning due to the pandemic, it had a direct effect on my income. Initially, I was a little tense, but looking at how policemen and doctors kept going during the pandemic, I too wanted to do something for the society," Borhade told the media.

Usually, he charges Rs 80 each for a haircut and to style and shave beard.

"Mumbai Police is a disciplined force. Police personnel have to ensure that they wear their hair and beard neatly in front of their superiors. Doctors, too, need to wear their hair short as there is a larger risk of carrying infection in longer tresses. So, I took it upon myself to help them," Borhade said.

He said that he has been regularly getting calls from either policemen or doctors at JJ hospital. Some days, he has even had to start early in the day and continue till late night, helping as many as 20 frontline workers per day.

Borhade also takes all the necessary precautions. He wears a mask and gloves while working and upon reaching his house, he directly goes to his bathroom without touch anything to wash his tools properly. He also disinfects each tool after each haircut using sanitisers and hot water.

"It is significant that he is not expecting anything in return. Initially, when I was looking for someone to cut my hair, I learnt that barbers were charging four times the usual rate. Then I came across Borhade, who was doing it for free," ACP (Dongri division) Avinash Dharmadhikari said.