The Great Bhopal Haircut Marathon

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Scene 1: The Barber’s Chair – A Dream is Born

(Bhopal, a crisp winter morning. S.N. Roy, Executive Director of BHEL, Bhopal, sits in the barber’s chair. Scissors snip away as Jai Narain Bhati, the city's enthusiastic barber, trims his hair with precision.)

Bhati (whispering conspiratorially): Sir, I have a dream.

Roy (raising an eyebrow): I hope it’s not to make me bald.

Bhati (laughs nervously): No, no, sir! I want to set a world record. Most haircuts in one go! The current record is 1,200 haircuts in 102 hours.

Roy: Hmm. Sounds... exhausting. What’s the catch?

Bhati (excitedly): I get only a 10-minute break every hour. My fingers will blister, my back will ache, but my name will shine in the record books!

Roy: And you need... what, exactly?

Bhati (grinning): Heads, sir. Lots of heads.

Roy: You mean volunteers?

Bhati (nodding vigorously): Exactly! I need at least 1,500 people. And a proper venue. And judges. And someone to record it all.

Roy (leaning back, deep in thought): Hmm… Let’s see. We do have 2,000 malis (gardeners) in our township… and they always need a trim.

(Bhati’s eyes light up. He nearly snips Roy’s ear in excitement.)

Roy: Easy, man! Let me make a few calls.

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Scene 2: Operation Haircut – The Planning Committee

(Roy marches into his office. His trusted lieutenants, Mr. Bhattacharya (town administrator), Mr. Rai, and Mr. Sinha (PR department), are summoned.)

Roy: Gentlemen, we have an unusual task ahead.

Bhattacharya (warily): Sir, if this is about fixing the township’s water supply again—

Roy: No, no. Bigger. We’re setting a world record.

Bhattacharya: A world record… in what?

Roy: Haircuts. 1,500 of them.

Bhattacharya (stunned): Sir, have you had too much tea today?

Roy: Not at all. We have the barber, we have the scissors. Now we just need the heads.

Bhattacharya (recovering): Ah! That we have. The malis!

Roy: Exactly. Free haircuts! Tell them it’s part of an international event. Throw in some chai and biscuits, and they’ll come in droves.

Bhattacharya (chuckling): I’ll handle it, sir.

(Roy turns to Mr. Rai and Mr. Sinha.)

Roy: PR team, your mission: set up an enclosure. It’s deep winter, and our barber can’t be cutting hair while shivering. We need proper lighting, banners, and—most importantly—official judges.

Rai: Who’ll be the judges?

Roy: Officers from BHEL. Impartial, serious-looking, clipboard-carrying officers who can count heads.

Sinha: And what about media coverage?

Roy: Of course! Call the local papers. And BBC’s Mahesh Pandey. Let’s make this an event to remember!

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Scene 3: The Record-Breaking Marathon

(January 4, 2002. A large enclosure has been set up. The first volunteer—none other than S.N. Roy himself—sits on the chair.)

Bhati (brandishing his scissors dramatically): Sir, are you ready?

Roy (grinning): The question is—are you?

(Snip, snip. The first haircut is done. Applause erupts. The crowd of malis, bundled in shawls, shuffle forward for their free trims. The marathon begins.)

(Hours turn into days. Bhati snips tirelessly. His fingers blister. Tea flows endlessly. The judges keep count. The malis, enjoying their free haircuts, cheer him on. The atmosphere is electric.)

(Much like Arjuna in the Mahabharata, who stayed focused on the bird’s eye during his archery test, Bhati remained unwavering in his determination, ignoring fatigue, hunger, and even the temptation to rest.)

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Scene 4: The Final Snip

(After 108 hours, the final haircut is done. A local journalist gets the honor of being the last head under Bhati’s magic scissors. A loud cheer erupts.)

Judge (announcing grandly): 1,451 haircuts in 108 hours! A new record!

(Bhati, exhausted but victorious, raises his scissors like a champion. The PR team rushes to submit the feat to the Limca Book of Records and Guinness World Records.)

Bhati (panting): Sir… we did it!

Roy (smiling): You did it, Jai Narain. Now, take some rest. And maybe, just maybe, give your own hair a trim.

(Laughter all around. The event goes down in history as one of Bhopal’s most unique records.)

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Epilogue: From Local Barber to Celebrity Stylist

For Jai Narain Bhati, there was no looking back. His feat brought him national recognition, and soon, he expanded his business beyond Bhopal. His Dreamers Hair salon chain spread across Chandigarh, Mumbai, Indore, and Jaipur.

His scissors have since touched the heads of Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Anup Jalota, Prabhu Deva, Ajay Devgan, Vikrant Massey and many other celebrities. His business has grown to an impressive ₹5 crore turnover per year, and he now dreams of opening a branch in Los Angeles. While asked about opening branch in Delhi he replied within one year!

His achievement was widely covered in all national newspapers and TV channels, including BBC, Doordarshan, and major Hindi and English dailies. The story of a barber from Bhopal cutting his way into history inspired many young dreamers across the country.

One can only imagine that when he finally opens his LA salon, he might pause for a moment, remember that cold January day in Bhopal, and smile. After all, it all started with a simple haircut and a helping hand from a certain Executive Director of BHEL.

This news of BBC came out on 9th January,2002

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 The BBC's Mahesh Pandey in Bhopal

A barber from the central Indian city of Bhopal claims to have set a world record by cutting the hair of 1,451 people in 108 hours without a stop.

The barber started his mission on 4 January and ended it five days later.

Jai Narain Bhati rested his pairs of scissors Wednesday morning.

He said the earlier world record was set by Rizwan Ali in Delhi and that he had cut the hair of 1,200 people in 102 hours.

Officials of the Bhopal unit of the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a public sector company, maintained a logbook and a minute-to-minute record of the feat.

They will send these to the Limca Book of Records and to the Indian representative of the Guinness Book of World Records.

Mr Bhati said he was inspired by a senior officer of BHEL to set the world record.

Mr Bhati runs a beauty parlour in the city.

He started off by cutting the hair of a BHEL officer and ended it by cutting the hair of a local journalist.

Mr Bhati was allowed a 10-minute break after every hour of his hirsute pursuit.

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Footnotes: Mahabharata Parallels

1. Arjuna’s Focus: Like Arjuna, who focused only on the eye of the bird during his archery test, Bhati focused solely on his scissors and the heads before him, ignoring fatigue and distractions.
2. Bhishma’s Vow: Bhati’s relentless determination can be compared to Bhishma’s oath of celibacy and lifelong service to Hastinapur—once committed, there was no turning back.