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Renu Thakur is hard at work,
deftly using thin thread to pluck the eyebrows of her customer. “All college
girls from Kamlehar
get their eyebrows shaped by me,” says the beauty entrepreneur from Kamlehar
village. 

“This is the most difficult task in make-up.” She is applying a thin
layer of foundation on her customer Jyoti’s face, stroking the brush around her
eyes. “This cream will make the skin smooth so that the make-up has a better
glow,” says the 32-year-old.

Renu has been in the
beauty industry for 11 years, starting when she was 21. “I had thought of
learning beauty parlour work since my childhood. I really like this field and
wanted to learn it right from the time I was a little girl.” When she was 16,
she went to Delhi, where her father was working at the time, to spend her
vacation. There, she learnt about a six-month make-up course for Rs. 3,000. “I
decided to do the course because no one in my village did that,” says the
beauty entrepreneur.

After her marriage at 21, Renu told her husband, Amit Thakur,
about wanting to start a beauty parlour and he readily agreed. But her in-laws
opposed it. “Will you wear the pallu in
the village or do your work?” they would say referring to the custom where
young brides must cover their head and stay out of the public gaze. But for
Renu, the display of her skills at her convenience was important. 

To open her shop, she had secured a loan of Rs. 45,000 nine years ago
at an interest rate of 1 per cent from Punjab National Bank in Draman
village of Kangra district. However, despite her best efforts she says, “I’ve
been unable to repay the loan and it has now increased to 60,000 rupees.”  

Renu earns between Rs.
200 to Rs. 300 a day but it depends on the number of customers that come in. “I
charge 30 rupees for threading eyebrows. For eyebrow threading plus upper lip
hair removal, I charge 40.” The earnings go up significantly when Renu is
called for a bridal makeover – then she earns around Rs. 3,000 a day. If the
bride owns the required make-up products, Renu charges only Rs. 1,000 for the
makeover. “Some days I earn nothing,” she says.

Her shop in the village, with a population of 393 (Census 2011), was
always bustling with customers. “Business was good,” she says until covid-19
struck and “my husband shut down my shop. He feared that we might get infected
with the virus.” Since then, Renu has been carrying out her work from her own
home.  

With many parlours springing in the neighbourhood, Renu has seen a
decline in customers. Eight years ago, there wasn’t a single beauty parlour in
Kamlehar when Renu started her business. “Now there are many more beauty
parlours in the village,” she says.

Kamlehar’s neighbourhood
is full of shops run by men and Renu’s is the only woman-run business in the
region, well equipped with all the products required for everything from a
haircut to mehendi, waxing, facial
and make-up. To procure her make-up supplies for the parlour, Renu takes a bus to
Palampur.
She buys the supplies from a wholesaler in bulk to avail cheaper rates.

Being fluent in Hindi as well as Pahari – languages spoken in the
neighbouring villages – Renu easily chats with her customers who come from as
far as the Nanahar
and Rachhiara
villages, located almost a kilometre away from her village. 

Renu’s husband, Amit, runs a chicken shop and is a driver. Renu’s
elder daughter Riddhima, 10, is in class 6. Her younger daughter Smaira is
three and stays at home with her mother. With the income from her beauty
parlour business, Renu pays Riddhima’s school fees. 

Renu is happy to see women from her village not being confined to
household chores. “Women [here] are creating their own space and their families
are also being supportive,” she says. These are women who knit, farm, and run
small businesses like her to earn a living. “I hope more women do it,” she
says. 

Our thanks to Parveen Kumar, Amrita Rajput and Naomi Fargose, former PARI interns,
for helping with this piece.

The beauty business in Kamlehar

کملیہر کی بیوٹیشیئن

கம்லேஹரில் அழகு நிலையம்

ಕಮ್‌ಲೆಹರ್‌ನ ಸೌಂದರ್ಯ ಉದ್ಯಮ

রেণু ঠাকুরের বিউটি পার্লারে সেজে ওঠে কমলেহর গ্রাম

कमलेहर की सौंदर्य-व्यवसायी

Kamlehr 

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The beauty business in Kamlehar

Renu Thakur’s beauty parlour is located within her home in this village in Himachal Pradesh. Despite the growing competition, it is aglow with local customers and good references

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