He was the Barber in OlKalou running his kiosk from inside the market. Back then, everybody wanted to have the English haircut (kwenjwo githungu). That was the style where majority of the hair was left on the top of the head, then hair was reduced gradually on the sides until it was clean shaven closer to the ears and around the back.
Some men parted their hair with a comb forming a neat line on one side of the head. Hair was then brushed on either side away from the line to make it prominent. It was called Gutema Rori. For my brothers, once in a while my father dropped them off at Ndongoria’s Barber shop for a haircut. As usual, my father talked to Ndongoria ahead of time, letting him know how he wants the boys hair trimmed.
Ndongoria was a middle aged man, so he was in total agreement with our middle aged father. The boys were toast. They did not get to chose a hairstyle. No chance for the trendy githungu haircut. Instead, their heads were clean shaven with just a hint of hair left at the top of their heads. This style suited our fathers pocket just fine. He got his money’s worth and the boys did not require another haircut in the foreseeable future.
It was a win win for our father, but not so much for the boys.
