Barbershops are no less than an institution in India, doubling up as places where men gather to catch up on cricket news, discuss current affairs and talk about their problems while they get a head massage, a trim or a shave. They have, essentially, always been male-dominated spaces. This is what makes Banwari Tola, an otherwise quiet, unassuming village in eastern Uttar Pradesh, stands out from the rest. It has the distinction of having a men’s salon run solely by girls –18-year-old Jyoti and 16-year-old Neha.

In 2014, their father suffered a paralytic attack. Unable to continue work, he had to pull down the shutters of his barbershop — cutting off the only source of the family’s income. Jyoti and Neha, in the face of adversity, decided not to succumb to this change of fate. Rather, with sheer grit, they decided to challenge the situation.

To keep their family afloat, Jyoti took up the responsibility of running her father’s barbershop in his absence, having picked up the skills by observing him at work. Later, she imparted the skills to her younger sister too. But skilling themselves wasn’t the only obstacle they would have to overcome.

Any sudden change has a ripple effect and its consequences, the girls were obviously skeptical about the villagers accepting this new change. In a bold attempt to not get thwarted by the village’s mentality, Jyoti and Neha cut their hair short and wore kadas, bracelets traditionally wore be men, to disguise themselves as boys. With their father by their side who believed that his girls had it in them to venture into a male-dominated profession, they challenged the norms.

In their new avatars as Deepak and Raju, Jyoti and Neha developed a work routine that allowed them to earn money without skipping school. After attending school in the morning, the duo would start work in the afternoon. They had begun to earn enough to support their family and pay for their father’s treatment. In fact, since they took over, their father’s barbershop has evolved from a basic grooming setup in a shed into a men’s salon.

After running it successfully and gaining confidence from their male customers, Jyoti and Neha gradually revealed their true identities and to their surprise, they received the support of the men in the village, who came out in their appreciation. Though the men took some time, but now they are loyal customers of this truly inspiring barbershop and in awe of the skills of Jyoti and Neha

The need for survival pushed Jyoti and Neha to defy deeply-entrenched gender norms, a commendable feat in rural Uttar Pradesh. By excelling at a male-dominated profession, they have shaved a deep-seated gender stereotype in the region and proved that work doesn’t discriminate between gender.

This article was produced by the Scroll marketing team on behalf of #ShavingStereotypes and not by the Scroll editorial team.