Hair Yoga (Caring For Your Hair The Right Way)

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There are two things that are common to most people: we all want gorgeous hair and we all have at least one hair issue. From styling celebrities, to running one of the most popular salon chains in India, to the revolutionary Xpreso-the 99- rupee haircut-Jawed Habib is undoubtedly someone you can trust with your hair.

In Hair Yoga, Jawed takes you back to the basics of hair care and tackles a of your hair troubles. Packed with tips and remedies, this is the ultimate book to take hair health into your hands so that you have a good hair day, everyday.

Jawed Habib has over 340 salons and 47academies across India. He has been featured in the Limca Book of Records with a feat of 410 non-stop haircuts in a day. He was also the official Hair Stylist to the contestants for Miss India, 2003.

In keeping with the tradition of service with a difference, Jawed Habib has carved a niche for himself in the field of professional and creative hairstyling in India. He has integrated hairstyling and grooming in India. His concept of hairstyling is a perfect amalgam of Indian and Western hairstyling based on science and geometrical system. His skills, aesthetic sensitivity, and solid expertise help him to understand the clients' requirements much better and work wonders on hair.

What difference does hair make to our life? Ask a bald man! Not that being bald is a dishonourable condition, but having hair definitely is a privilege. As a cartoonist, I find it easier to draw people without hair. You just draw a circle and fit in some features, lo and behold-your caricature is ready!

There are many politicians who figure in my list of favourites. LK Advani, PV Narsimha Rao, Pt Nehru, Rajiv Gandhi ... the list is long. But I love to experiment with those who have the crowning glory. I loved Mr Vajpayee's locks on his forehead. Indira Gandhi's white patch of hair became her trademark. We often use Hitler's hairdo and moustache as a symbol for dictatorship and brutality. Lalu Yadav's hairstyle is as famous as that of some film stars. I remember, in the 90s, when his name first figured in the fodder seam, I turned his mop of hair into a bundle of fodder! I

have followed Sonia Gandhi's hair trends-pony tail to bun to open hair style-in my cartoons. Rahul's unruly mop is not too difficult to capture.

When my dear friend, Jawed Habib, started writing this book, he asked me if I could do some cartoons for the book. I readily agreed. I regularly get my hair styled by him and do not want to displease him because he can easily do my caricature with a pair of scissors!

Good hair alone isn't enough; you need a good stylist to give it character and personality.

When I was in college, Amitabh Bachchan's hairstyle was a rage. All of us boys copied it and I bet we all looked rather comical! The generations before me copied Dev Anand and Jeetendra haircuts. And who can forget the iconic Sadhana Cut!

Remember how one dreaded the thought of visiting a 'barber' in one's childhood? At least, I did! Going for a cut used to be like going into the battle field. Almost like being under the butcher's knife! They would put me on a little plank of wood placed on the two armrest bars of the chair-so that I could reach the barber's scissor level. 1 do not remember ever coming back home without some cuts and wounds!

To Jawed goes the credit for turning this 'barbaric' job into a glamorous profession. In the past few years, Jawed Habib has become a name to reckon with in the field of hairstyling and beauty business. He has made this nondescript job of 'hair cutting' into a respectable profession. You have to visit one of his training schools to see it for yourself.

Your hair is your identity. It's like your finger print. That's why when your hair starts falling at an alarming speed, you mourn the loss of each hair. It's psychologically a painful process. You envy the people who have good hair. You secretly wish them a fast receding hairline! You try every potion in the world so that your hair grows back! You go to doctors, hakims, vaidyas ... even astrologers, sadhus and witch doctors, in the hope that someone will work magic on your shining bald scalp! But nothing works ! You feel frustrated and dejected. You plan to buy a good wig or get a hair transplant!

But there's no need to be unhappy. Jawed is here with his vast experience and knowledge about your hair to help you with your hair troubles. We all want good quality hair. Healthy hair. And we all want to look good. This book will help you look after your hair more efficiently. In Hair Yoga Jawed explains everything about your hair from washing to grooming, from styling to taking care of your hair. In short-it's your hair almanac. Enjoy the book! And if you're still not happy with your hair-visit the nearest Jawed Habib Salon!

I could have been anything else but hair styling is in my blood and genes. From the time I was a child, I remember my grandfather giving haircuts. And to some very prominent people. He was the official barber to the President of India. He would wear his crisp and clean barber's uniform, wrap all his tools in a clean white towel, and cycle off to the President's house. My father also told me that my grandfather used to cut Lord Mountbatten's hair, the last Viceroy of India. In Independent India, there were other luminaries like Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru and other dignitaries who he serviced. So that was where my legacy started.

Years later, my father took over his profession and he too would visit the dignitaries like my grandfather used to do. My father then moved on to take up a job at the Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi.

There were times when he would also take me to work along with him. I would keenly observe him working over the client's hair. Sometimes he would also cut my brothers' and my hair. I paid great attention to how he would handle the scissors and comb, his concentration on the client's hair, the smile on his face when he was talking to the client, etc. They were my first ever lessons on hair styling.

However, when I started my career, I was never interested in the barber's profession. I wanted to study and join the hospitality industry. But fate had something else in store for me. While I was doing my post-graduation, my father set up an independent salon and quit his job at the hotel. For a very long time, he tried to convince me to join his business. I refused for many years but I finally gave in and he enrolled me into a prestigious hair dressing school in London. This was my first step towards entering the hair styling profession.

While I was in London, I noticed that the barber's job was a dignified profession and was carried out with a different dimension altogether. To add to that, it was also considered a glamorous profession unlike in India at that time. I began to view it in a different light. So a combination of family tradition, training, and inspiration in London together sucked me into this business and made me a hair dresser.

Hair styling now has been my forte for the last 20 years. During these years I have actually walked, talked, slept, dreamt, learnt hair styling only. It now seems like I opened my eyes in this world with a pair of scissors and comb just ready to style someone's hair. I am so passionate about hair styling that I can almost feel a customer's hair talk to me and tell me what they want!

While working on people's hair, it is inevitable that they will discuss their hair troubles with me. The discussion moves on from hair styling to managing and presenting hair, and general hair growth. I have been in the hair business for years and have come across these queries from people belonging to both genders and all age groups. I was surprised to know that people's hair concerns were common even overseas!

I used to deal people's hair concerns over the phone, while I was attending conferences, during my seminars and even while I was on a flight! My customers wanted to reach me anywhere and any time. My customers have always kept me occupied and on my toes. My business has grown multifold. But there are only 24 hours in a day, and only so much one person can do. So I decided to pen all my thoughts related to hair management and care in the most simple, natural, and doable way. Hair Yoga is based on the principle of self help. I feel that the ultimate value of any product or a process lies in the ease with which it can be put to the benefit of the customer. So the remedial process has to be very simple so that anyone anywhere can understand and adopt with great ease. This book will tell you everything about how to take care of your hair health. It is carefully crafted into sections for easy understanding. All the hair problems and remedies for them that are discussed in this book are based in the Indian context but I am sure the book will not fall short in addressing the concerns of my overseas friends as well.

I am obliged to give back everything that I get from my customers. Hair Yoga belongs to my customers. I am confident that all your concerns related to hair will be addressed by this book. But this does not mean that you should stop talking to me. And keep inspiring me to give you more!