Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/189

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THE HAJAAM.
173

hair. Very well. This is how the strictly religious Parsi shaves; he sits down to a Hajaam with a prayer to Ahurmazd,[1] probably to restore him his neck safe from the Hajaam's keeping, and an anathema against Ahriman.[2] He would not, for fear of having to endure the pangs of perdition, allow a single hair to go astray. As soon as the Hajaam has done his work, the religious Parsi collects all the shavings and buries them in a solitary place after certain vigorous ejaculations. Though this practice is said to be eminently philosophic, it has somehow fallen into disrepute; and Parsis of the day do not only disregard the practice itself, but have so far diverged from the original firman[3] as to shave their chins and whiskers themselves. There is your wicked English education at the bottom of this revolution.

How the Hajaam operates on a Hindu.

But to return to our Hajaam, and how he operates upon an Aryan brother. The operation generally takes place on a Sunday noon, immediately after tiffin. Patient and operator squat

  1. The Parsi's God.
  2. The father of evil.
  3. Commandment.