Initiative to support hair-pickers

The rise of gated apartments is restricting their access to homes

A collection drive has turned the spotlight on the precarious lives of hair pickers in Bengaluru.

Members of the community go house to house to collect fallen hair in exchange for kitchen utensils, hair clips or cash, and also forage on footpaths. They sort the hair by colour, and sell them to vendors for Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,500 per kg for making wigs.

Five years ago, a member would find 500 gm of hair in three days but now combing the city for a week doesn’t fetch 200 gm, even when the demand for hair wigs and extensions are soaring.

That’s why, in its latest campaign, Hasiru Dala, an NGO working for the welfare of waste-pickers, is urging Bengalureans to donate fallen hair directly to the community. They have also partnered with a college in the city to give its fallen hair collection to the community.

The NGO has identified 593 people in the city, who make a living by hair picking, a skill passed down generationally. They live on the outskirts, around T C Palya, Nagavara and Bommanahalli and off Magadi Road.

Male hair-pickers earn more as they venture far outside the city into different talukas and for days. Household chores and safety concerns force women to forage more locally.

But as small housing societies become big and gated apartment complexes, the community lacks access to homes they can visit and build a rapport with, Nalini Shekar, cofounder of the NGO, talks of the challenge they face.

“Hair-pickers told us that some people save up fallen hair till a year but sell it to agents directly for a better price,” adds Bianca Fernandes, who oversees the Information, Education and Communication (livelihoods) programme at the NGO.

The pandemic lockdowns dealt a blow to their income. “We survived on our savings, dry ration donations and by making traditional toys,” recalls Eshwaramma, 37. She used to sell hair clips earlier but switched to hair-picking because the earnings were better. Today, she leaves her home in Vinayakanagar near T C Palya in search of fallen hair at 6 am.

“Hair-pickers from other parts of Karnataka have moved to the city after the pandemic, so we find lesser hair,” she talks of the new competition. Plus, buying steel and aluminium vessels for barter has become costlier because of inflation, which dents the overall earnings.

Black tresses, which fetch the maximum price, are harder to find now, Alumelluamma, a fourth-generation hair-picker, also from Vinayakanagar, comments on the declining quality of hair available. Grey and coloured hair are sold for less than half.

“We do not collect hair from salons because they mix up everything, short with long, bleached hair with non-bleached,” she adds.

To donate

They collect only strands of hair from the root (like hair stuck in the comb or fallen), or cut hair that is at least 12 inches long. Email [e-mail] to connect with them.