Fernandes has a salon called Thompsun Hair ‘n’ Makeup Studio at Chapel Road in Bandra West which is enroute to the Bandra fair
Hairdresser Thompsun is all about good hair days. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar
As hairdresser Thomas Fernandes put down his scissors on Sunday—the final day of the Bandra fair, he had earned his rest. The hairstylist had finished “at least 30 haircuts from 3.30 pm till 10.30 pm”. “I was giving free haircuts on the first Sunday of the fair and the last Sunday,” he said. Fernandes has a salon called Thompsun Hair ‘n’ Makeup Studio at Chapel Road in Bandra West which is enroute to the Bandra fair.
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Thompsun believes his craft is an art
Thomas, who is also known as Thompsun to many and referred to by this name from now on in this report, said, “I started using the Thompsun name during a work stint in Abu Dhabi many years ago. When I used to say, Thomas Fernandes, many Indians would ask me: why do you have two surnames?” He laughed as he said, “My penchant for haircutting began, I think, when I was 12 years old. My sister, training to be a stylist, gave me a bad haircut at home when I was 12. I told her that if I ever became a stylist, I would be a better one than her!” For Thompsun, a haircut is more than a haircut, “It is a confidence booster. I see clients come into my salon, at times, anxious, a little down in spirit or just a little nervous. A haircut can transform you. I like that zip and spirit clients display right after they leave, post a haircut. Seeing that, makes me confident, too.”
Also read: Bandra Fair: Must-try food items around Mount Mary’s Basilica
Chair fair
The free haircuts at the fair are a gift, thanks and dedication to Mother Mary. “We are asking so much from her, it is time to give back, I thought,” said Thompsun. For this fair, the experienced stylist, working in the field for 28 years, put a free haircut sign outside his salon on the mirror and a chair placed just outside on the pavement so that people know he is offering free haircuts. Through his hairstyling career, Thompsun, 50, had several workspaces across Bandra, “till I got this, my grandfather’s place, given to me by my family as my own place for a salon. I have given free haircuts earlier too, pre-COVID at the fair, where I used to install a hairstyling chair underneath my home. Post-COVID, I decided to offer the services just outside my salon, so that it was more convenient, and I had easier access to haircutting accessories and tools.”
All smiles
David Vaz, who was visiting the fair on the last day, said, “I was passing through Chapel Road on my way to the fair on Sunday evening. I glanced up and saw a gent giving a haircut to a lady, just outside a salon. On one side of the space, I saw there was something written: Free Haircuts Only Today. I stood to watch and I thought to myself, he seems extremely skilled. He finished the haircut within 10 minutes, and she was all smiles, thanking him profusely after the haircut.” Vaz recalled, “I spoke to Thompsun, and he said, I prayed it does not rain today (Sunday) as I only give haircuts on the Feast Day Sunday and the last day of the fair. Seems even the weather gods were pleased with him. Way to go Thompsun, I thought to myself.”
The legacy
Thompsun teaches hairstyling to students too and believes his legacy will live on through the many heads that turn as clients leave his salon. “I also teach my students that if you love what you do and you love yourself, then everything falls in place. It is not always dress to impress but tress to impress too,” signed off the ‘Bandra boy’ who averred that the different people who walk into his salon are a lens through which he sees how the western suburb has transformed through his years as a child and now a professional.
30
Approx no of haircuts he gave on Sunday
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