Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/188

172 THE VILLAGE HAJAAM. curiosity, by the way, is the village Hajaam, the barber. No native can do without the Hajaam, and as he attends to many other little offices of life besides shaving, it may not be amiss to give an account of his "life and labours," in these days of cheap biography. The Hajaam in Gujarát is Hindu by caste; sometimes he is Musalman. There is no Parsi Hajaam. There are several little handicrafts at which the Parsi flatly refuses to work. He may be a professional gambler or thief, but a Hajaam or blacksmith—never. There are religious scruples in the way of his becoming a Hajaam. According to his Shástras there is sin in paring the nails or picking up, clipping, or shaving the