Remembering a star customer: Dr APJ Abdul Kalam didn't like his hair short, says hairstylist Habib Ahmed

“When (APJ Abdul) Kalam shifted to Delhi in the late 90s, he visited my salon at Lodhi hotel for the first time. His hair was slightly longer than what was the fashion then,” reminisces 78-year-old Habib Ahmed, who used to cut the hair of the former president. “But he always wanted to maintain that length.  He was particular about that,” says Ahmed. Kalam’s iconic steel grey locks parted at the centre with short half moon kiss curls on his forehead and longer length around the nape was his own personal creation. That was not an influence of the times or of any hair stylist. [caption id=“attachment_2367868” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Former president APJ Abdul Kalam. AFP[/caption] Ahmed recalls that every month that the smiling scientist walked into the salon, as is the wont of hairdressers, he would suggest that Kalam change his hair style. When the suggestion came repeatedly during his monthly trips to the salon, Kalam decided to give in to the wishes of Ahmed. “I changed his style by keeping the parting slightly off centre and shortened the length,” says Ahmed. But Kalam was not amused. “He was upset with the style and said that he did not like it, but in his inimitable style of politeness without sounding harsh.” Since nothing much could be done to alter the hairstyle, Kalam wore the hair in that manner for some time. Four months later he walked into Ahmed’s salon and said, “I have grown my hair. Give it the same shape like it used to have earlier and keep the length long.” The steely grey locks were dry and rough. So Ahmed offered the former prez a serum to smoothen it. “Kalam used it regularly and was happy with the sheen it gave his hair,” says Ahmed. A pedicure for Kalam With the busy schedule that Kalam had as a scientist working on national projects, he had no time to clip his nails too. So once he asked Ahmed if he could help him clip his toe nails, which had grown quite long. “I asked a young boy at my salon to give Kalam a pedicure. But since the boy was a young lad, Dr Kalam was very uncomfortable with the thought that the youngster was giving him a pedicure. He was like that – sensitive to people and very warm towards everyone in the salon,” says Ahmed. Did the former president talk about his faith which he shared with Ahmed? “He would say that khuda has given everything that is in Nature and that we as human beings should learn from Nature.” The conversations were always in English. “Oh, sometimes he would start the conversations in Hindi and then soon lapse into English. He would say, ‘My Hindi is weak.’ And during his next visit he would again launch into Hindi for a while and say, ‘My Hindi is slightly better than before;’ then smile at his inability to hold the conversation in Hindi for long and lapse into English again,” recalls Ahmed fondly. Kalam, the scientist, was a revered man and so Habib felt uncomfortable charging him for his services. “I considered it a privilege to cut the hair of someone of Kalam’s stature,” he says. But Kalam was clear that he would not have any services gratis. He made his stand clear to Ahmed and said that he would be forced to not visit his salon if he did not charge him. “He paid the amount for the haircut and did not ever ask for a discount,” recalls Ahmed. The kind demeanour of the former president was evident even as a scientist. Once when Kalam walked into the salon for his monthly haircut, he was told that Ahmed was hospitalised for some ailment. From the lobby of the hotel he called up Ahmed and enquired after his health. “He spoke with me for half an hour. That was special as Dr Kalam was a very busy man. Yet, he took the time to enquire,” says Ahmed gratefully. Another time when Kalam was travelling in his car, he saw the Ahmeds car at a distance. He put out his hand and waved at them. “He was such a simple person,” says Ahmed. ‘Married to the missile’ When Kalam became the president, the official hairstylist at Rashtrapati Bhavan was in charge of the president’s hair cuts. But the former president did not forget his former hair stylist, Ahmed. He invited Ahmed and his family – children and grandchildren, to Rashtrapati Bhavan. The office had given the Ahmed family just 10 minutes time with the former president, but Kalam spent 45 minutes with them. “Dr Kalam welcomed us warmly. After a little while, he wanted to show us the Mughal Gardens which opened out from his room. He told us that he took a daily morning walk in the gardens. My grandchildren were quite young then, but Dr Kalam asked them about their ambitions and told them to study well.” When they were seated at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Ahmed asked Kalam how he spent his evenings there. “I say my isha namaz (late evening prayers) and then listen to south Indian classical music. Sometimes, I play the veena,” he recounted. Ahmed then asked Kalam why he never married. “I was married,” he said. Then he smiled and said. “I was married to the missile.” The Ahmeds have had a long association with first families of politics in India. Ahmed’s father Nazir Ahmed was the hair stylist to independent India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and president Rajendra Prasad. Habib Ahmed’s services were requested by late prime minister Indira Gandhi too. “Those were the golden times. We were treated with great respect. We were not labelled according to our profession. After a long gap, I had the great fortune to meet a scientist who became the president and later met him when he finished his tenure. He remained the same warm, caring person that I had known when I first met him. When we met after Dr Kalam finished his tenure, he told me, “Let’s start our relationship again.” He meant Ahmed could go back to cutting and styling his hair. “But that day never came again,” says Ahmed. Ahmed says, Allah unhe jannat ul firdoz meing jagah de. Then he says, as if to himself, “Of course a personality like Kalam would be in a special place now.”