Bombay Beard Club members talk about dumping the 'chikna' look

Kamaljeet Rana Nikhil Alag Vishal Singh Jrsquoson Drsquosouza and Clince Varghese PicSayyed Sameer AbediWe know we look good and that has upped our confidencerdquo says Vishal Singh president and founder of the eightmonthold Bangalore Beard Club who has now brought the society of men with facial hair to Mumbai An entire society founded on facial hair might seem a bit much but Singh 32 says that thanks to the beard ldquoWe are completely different people from who we used to berdquoWe are at a cafeacute at a suburban mall and the five men at the table sport different lengths and styles of facial hair Therersquos Singh the alpha dog digital marketer with a long straight beard that gets its shape thanks to a blow dry The sorted and ldquomaturerdquo exbanker now restaurateur Jrsquoson DrsquoSouza 40 has the short salt and pepper crop Madcap emcee and corporate trainer Clince Varghese 26 has long curly locks which are set off by a small but well groomed goatee Software engineerturnedactor Kamaljeet Rana 30 has the unkempt long beard And the quietly confident sales executive Nikhil Alag 28 has a golden wellcoiffed growth Interestingly this is the first time they are meeting each other too the Bombay Beard Clubrsquos BBC first event is scheduled this evening at Lower Parel brewery Barking DeerSingh who is from Mumbai but has made Bengaluru home says he first decided to grow a beard in 2013 He started the club as he saw many others out there who were doing the same all in a bid to enhance their personality He started a Facebook page and interested beards just kept clickingThe club meetings which are open to women by the way continue for three hours or more and are a mixed bag While therersquoll always be food and drinks to enjoy experts are brought in to discuss grooming tips products to use where to go for a cut and what shape goes best with their face They will also talk about how men can try and solve issues plaguing women ldquoThe proceeds from all our events members pay 1000 go to charity We have been donating to an NGO helping men with prostate cancer for the last few eventsrdquo says SinghIt sounds like a boyrsquos club with a difference if you must define it ldquoThe tag line of the club is Beards With Brains I have a conversation with every person who shows interest and they need to not just be pretty faces or a good beardThey have to have substance We all need to be on the same wavelengthrdquo says Singh He doesnrsquot do well with the ldquoonly reason I have a beard is because itrsquos in fashionrdquo sort of conversationsThe members also have to subscribe to the notion that not only has the beard made them more attractive it has also made them gogetters confident about what they want and commanding respect Rana firmly believes soldquoWhen I was going for auditions I realised that everyone looked the same Doesnrsquot Mumbai or Lokhandwala have enough tall wellbuilt good looking boys And so I decided to do the risky thing and get a beard So even though I have missed out on some parts I am proud of my beard because it helps me stand outrdquo adds the Andheri West resident whose tryst with the beard began a year agoWhen popularity of the Bangalore Beard Club soared of the club and the the lsquobeardrsquo itself thanks to all the hipsters in the world who disowned it as soon as it became common Singh knew it was time for Mumbai to get its own chapter He reached out via his Facebook page and finalised the group last weekAmong the first to sign up was Orlembased DrsquoSouza ldquoI was a banker and people would look at my beard and tattoos with wonderment but I was getting the work done and thatrsquos what matteredrdquo he says They all cite the example of Indian skipper Virat Kohli who has in the last year grown a rather sexy beard ldquoIf he was going to be captain he needed to be taken seriously and he did it with a beardrdquo says Singh At which point Alag adds ldquoItrsquos not just the beard itrsquos the way you dress with it It changes everything from the the clothes you wear to the way you carry yourselfrdquo There are loud yesesldquoGone is the time when we just wore a shirt and a pair of trousers and headed off to work Now we mix and match We have a whole identity to go along with itrdquo says Singh Varghese smiles ldquoIt helps us stand out everywhere we go And the women of course love it as well We have certainly got more attention since we got the beardsrdquo They all laugh and admit that they were never this popular with the ladies as ldquochiknardquo boys and the ladies are invited to their events to talk interact or just gaze Have they become a tad vain since they started keeping their facial hair They answer in the negative ldquoWe just need 40 minutes in the morning to deal with the beard and then we are donerdquo says Singh who blow dries his beard every day to get that straight smooth texture They are all capable of having a conversation about what products to put in their hair for hours and are happy to have found friends who unlike others donrsquot find them obsessive ldquoOnce we are done we know we look damn good and then the whole day is a breezerdquo signs off DrsquoSouza