Tucked away in Chennai’s northern fringes is a building that looks like it has been around for a few decades. Winding through a dark narrow passage and taking a flight of stairs, you end up in a huge ceramic-tiled hall crammed with plastic crates each brimming with human hair.
In one corner, over half-a-dozen young and middle-aged women bunch up long hair and pass them on to another set of women who untangle them and weed out weak and shorter hair by passing the bunches through blocks of nail spikes.
Another flight up takes you to A.L. Kishore’s office room. It’s hard to believe that this is where he meets all his customers from countries ranging from the US, Germany, France and the UK.
Kishore, and scores of companies like his, are in the business of procuring, processing and exporting human hair.
India is in the top drawer when it comes to hair exports. One, Indian women like to keep their hair long. Two, there’s an abundance: each year, millions of women (and men) wait in long queues to ‘donate’ their hair to the gods and tonsure centres at pilgrim points such as Tirupati and Palani.
The demand is not only due to the length but also because Indian hair comes in different textures and can be moulded to achieve different effects in hairdos.
Indian human hair, in the 1950s and 60s was exported only to Germany and Japan to make amino acids (used in chocolate manufacturing and other protein-based food and cosmetic products). But, today it adorns the heads of many Hollywood stars and fashionistas in the US, Europe and Asian countries.
The raw hair is usually bought for up to Rs 15,000 a kg depending on the length and the quality of the hair. Once it arrives, the raw human hair is sorted according to their size, and then graded according to texture and colour.
Then, they are washed (three to four washes in various acids and shampoos), combed and then tied into bunches. The untangling and sorting calls for a special skill set, and those who work on it are paid upwards of Rs 600 a day. There are approximately 10,000 people employed in this business in Tamil Nadu alone, says Kishore.
Usually, 12-18-inch long hair is the most sought after, which is sold for an average price of Rs 20,000 a kg. The price will vary according to the quality and colour. “If it’s longer, one can sell it for a higher price,” says Ramnath Gupta, another exporter, in Choolai.
Benjamin Cherian, Managing Director of Raj Hair International, another exporter whose turnover surpassed Rs 25 crore last year, says, temples are not the only source.
“We also buy from hair collectors who collect small amounts of hair women shed from their combing, which is later untangled, processed and sold.” Exporters also buy from beauty salons.
According to another major exporter, who did not want to disclose his name, many buy from unscrupulous agents who exploit rural and even poor women in urban areas.
“Mostly, rural women are targeted for their waist-length tresses, as they are the most sought after for their quality. The hair of the rural women are not exposed to shampoo wash and other chemicals and dyes; and can be sold for as much as Rs 40,000-50,000 a kg in the overseas market,” says Cherian. There are reports, he adds, that often, husbands are wooed with a bottle of liquor to get their wives’ hair.
Bharani, an exporter in west Chennai, says one can source up to 350 grams from one head, if she has at least 30-inch long tresses, while only 200 grams are required to make a “reasonably dense” wig.