Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/189

Rh hair. Very well. This is how the strictly religious Parsi shaves; he sits down to a Hajaam with a prayer to Ahurmazd, probably to restore him his neck safe from the Hajaam's keeping, and an anathema against Ahriman. He would not, for fear of having to endure the pangs of perdition, allow a single hair to go astray. As soon as the Hajaam has done his work, the religious Parsi collects all the shavings and buries them in a solitary place after certain vigorous ejaculations. Though this practice is said to be eminently philosophic, it has somehow fallen into disrepute; and Parsis of the day do not only disregard the practice itself, but have so far diverged from the original firman as to shave their chins and whiskers themselves. There is your wicked English education at the bottom of this revolution.

But to return to our Hajaam, and how he operates upon an Aryan brother. The operation generally takes place on a Sunday noon, immediately after tiffin. Patient and operator squat