Mansoor of Bhopal performs unique feat of scissoring with fire, enters Limca Book of Records
By Pervez Bari, TwoCircles.net
Bhopal: The passion to do something different so as to be counted has driven Bhopal's hairstylist Mohammad Mansoor Mateen to achieve a unique feat. He has learnt and perfected an innovative method to 'style' out hair not by gel or scissors but by fire! As such he has added fire to be one of his tools amongst others in his profession for styling hair of his customers. This feat of his has earned him the honor of getting his name entered in the Limca Book of Records. Â
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The Limca Book of Records has entered Mansoor's name in their record books for styling hair innovatively by placing an inverted fire-proof metal bowl with many holes in it on the client's head. Then, using a crochet needle type of implement, strands of hair are pulled out through these holes and these holes are sealed with "Besan" (Gram flour) paste. A special oil spray is then sprinkled on pulled out strands of hair which is followed by ignition with a lighter. Thereafter, torching is done of the pulled out hair strands.
   Vijaya Ghose, Editor of Limca Book of Records, has issued a certificate to this effect to Mansoor for his unique feat.
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Mansoor, who is a former State-level hockey player of Madhya Pradesh, demonstrated his art, of hairstyling three youths namely Shoaib, Sunil and Sarfaraz simultaneously by fire in 30 seconds, to newspersons here who were quite dumb-struck. The newsmen in amazement saw the test by fire on customers who appeared to be as cool as a cucumber while flames leaped and danced on their heads.
   He revealed that he would now be trying to get his name registered in the Guinness Book of World Records. He said that he is working on two or three innovative things more which he cannot reveal now.
   Born in Bhopal on January 1, 1981, Mansoor, son of Abdul Mateen, has been in the profession of hairstyling for the past eight years. After initial two years at Bhopal, he learnt hairstyling in Mumbai at Turkish Hair Saloon and Academy for three years. At present he is based at Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia where he is working with his maternal uncle in his own hair-styling saloon Al-Mansoor Halaqa for last several years. Â
   When asked if he had tried this unique method of hairstyling by fire on his clients in Riyadh, Mansoor said:â€? No. Not at all. The rules there do not allow any innovations".Â
    The spiky style of Bollywood star Aamir Khan in 'Rang De Basanti' or the taping style or the Italian style or the Turki style, this consummate hair-cutter knows where and how the flame is to be used for cutting. Through fire cutting four types of hairstyles can be set which are: Texturizing, Chopping, Franci and Spiky, he added.Â
   He said such hairstyling by fire is not for common man but for persons who aspire to enter the world of modeling or film industry. He claimed that he has given these unique style haircuts to more than 1000 people in his career. The youth today prefer something different, as they like to have trendy hair with spreading notches. These notches are given different colors in foreign countries. The concept is fast catching up in Bhopal also, he pointed out.
   Mansoor said several film stars have also used this style of hair in movies. "I dream of introducing my unique style of hairstyling in film industry with a hope that film stars adopt my method of haircut with the help of fire", he said.
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"While candles have been used earlier by some barbers, my method using fire is probably for the first time in India," he claimed.
   Mansoor's forefathers have been in this business since ages. "I always wanted to do something different from others", he said. Recalling on how a Yemeni client Abdus Salam in Saudi Arabia, where he works, motivated him to experiment on cutting hair with fire.
   "After mulling over it for one and a half year, I finally showed the practical technique to my father in Bhopal and he was amazed", Mansoor said with a glint in his eyes.
   Mansoor's other methods of hair-styling are by using scissors and comb in one hand only and also cutting hair with the help of machine only without using scissors.
   This scribe has had the privilege to have his hair-cuts done in childhood days at the hands of Mansoor's grandfather late Abdul Hameed who used to visit home every month on Sundays about four decades back. ([email protected])