For 35-year-old Muhammad Yousuf, life has always been difficult. One of 10 children born to a labourer father who is originally from Kharan district in impoverished Balochistan, he had to leave school in the second grade, with his family unable to support his education.

For the last two decades, he has been working as a barber in the neighbouring district of Nushki that borders Afghanistan, where he is known for the library that he has set up at his shop.

It has led to him being referred to by customers and friends as Yousuf Shad, with the appellation the same that was used by renowned Baloch poet Ataullah Shad, considered the architect of modern Balochi poetry.

A CHILD’S DREAM

Yousuf’s parents came to Nuskhi some five decades ago, he tells Eos, as his mother is from Nushki, which is around 140 kilometres from the provincial capital Quetta. “Due to lack of work in Kharan, my maternal uncle asked us to come here,” he adds.

In the heart of the bustling bazaar in Balochistan’s Nushki, a barber offers more than just haircuts…

At the tender age of 11, he started working as a labourer alongside his father. While still a teenager, he became an apprentice at a local barber shop. It took him two decades to set up his own salon business in a rented space in the city’s main bazaar, called Jahangir Square.

Despite being uneducated, says Yousuf, he always had a fascination for books and learning. He has made sure that his six children are enrolled in schools.

“One day, while sitting in my shop, I was lost in thoughts as there was not a single customer,” Yousuf reminisces while talking to Eos about how the library came about. “Suddenly, I thought that the customers have to wait idly for their turn in my shop, as they do in most of the barbershops,” he continues. “So, I asked myself: why not keep them busy with one or two books?”

While barbershops have long had magazines and newspapers for those waiting, the practice has almost vanished with the proliferation of smartphones.

But Yousuf was banking on his customers’ curiosity, the patchy internet connectivity in the area and the fact that Nushki, a city of around 50,000 souls, is known as one of the literary centres of Balochistan.

Mir Gul Khan Naseer Mengal, Azat Jamaldini, Abdullah Jan Jamaldini and Bibi Gohar Malik are some of the major literary names from the area to have made significant contributions to Balochi literature. There are a handful of libraries in Nushki, too, including those named after the literary figures mentioned above. “So, Nushki is not new to books or a culture of reading,” adds Yousuf.

GAINING NUMBERS AND POPULARITY

Soon, word spread about the barber in Nushki who wanted his customers to read. What had started with two books on Balochi poetry soon turned into a pile. It included donations and gifts from customers as well as local writers. In no time, says Yousuf, there were almost 70 books — mostly in Balochi and Brahui – in his library.

Habib, one of Yousuf’s customers, says that it was quite the surprise to enter a hairdresser’s salon and find shelves with books. “I picked up a book to read, and I spent an hour over it, even missing my turn,” he tells Eos. “I was pleasantly surprised to see Yousuf, a non-educated person, talk about the significance of books. This is what our people want in a place such as Nushki,” he adds.

Yousuf adds that one of the reasons that he thought of setting up the library was to stop customers from bickering with each other over their turn to get a haircut. “Since the arrival of books, arguments over who gets the haircut first have become almost negligible,” says Yousuf. “There is hardly a fight in my shop these days.”

He says that he started the library to change people’s perception and thinking. “I do see some difference, if not outside, then at least in my shop, when my customers engage with the books that are part of the library,” he says with pride.

“It has also changed my own perception,” adds Yousuf, who can only read and write his name. He realises what he is missing out on due to his inability to read. “Skill is a good thing, but one must complete their education before joining any profession, even if it is that of a barber,” he says.

“That is what I tell my children and even my siblings, including those who ended up working as labourers, even though I had told them to first complete their studies,” he emphasises.

STUMBLING BLOCKS

Recently, Yousuf had a setback. A week or so after Yousuf’s conversation with Eos — which took place over a month ago — his landlord decided to increase the rent by a whopping 50 percent — from Rs20,000 to Rs30,000.

Unable to afford the increase, Yousuf was forced to vacate the premises and take his books along. So far, he has been unsuccessful in finding an alternative. Not one to sit idle, however, he has started working as a barber for another hairdresser in the same area.

“At least he has allowed me to display some of my books at the new shop,” says Yousuf. “I may earn less money in the new shop, but I am glad I still have the same library, with the same message.”

The writer is a member of staff. 
X: @Akbar_Notezai

Published in Dawn, EOS, April 6th, 2025