“How are things with your son, Sir?“, I overheard the barber as I was getting my hair cut in the neighborhood barber shop last week.

“It kind of improved after my last visit here, but is heading back to a state where we rarely talk..“, replied the man with gray hair. The wrinkles on his face suggested he was easily above 50.

The Wise Barber

In that split second when I heard this statement, I remembered my many trips to the barber shop during my childhood and how the barber would be the one person to know everyone in the colony and what is happening in their lives. And the way people used to talk about others lives in a barber shops seem to suggest that people have given them exclusive licenses to broadcast their life events. After a gap of a few seconds, the old man spoke again.

“After I talked to him frankly and openly, it felt a lot better. We talked in the evenings after dinner and it was like he was opening up. But then again, he got distant and quiet without any reason. Then there were a few instances where I lost my cool and shouted at him. Then there were all those negative emotions in my mind and it made it very difficult for me to make the efforts when he acts so cold.”

“I think you were in exactly the same position when you last came in?“, asked the barber.

“Yes. Both with my hair and with my relationship with my son, they have come a full circle.“, said the old man jokingly.

“And that is the rule of life. Some things grow back up and have to be cut regularly. It is the same with negative emotions. I can cut your hair, but we all have to cut our negativeness ourselves. Nobody will do that for us.“, replied the barber.

There was a long pause after that as the old man pondered over the wise words we all at the barber shop just heard. After he was done, he got up and said, “Yes, you are right. There are no barber shops for negative emotions. We have to do the job ourselves.” And then he left the shop.

I bet his relationship with his son would have taken on a positive note after that.