On a quiet stretch of road between Pangin and Pasighat, in a small hut made of weathered wood, the steady buzz of a hair trimmer fills the air. The man holding it, 53-year-old Taling Dupak, cannot hear the sound.
Born deaf and unable to speak, Dupak grew up in Kebang (Rebing) village in Siang district. His parents, Late Tasing Dupak and Late Yapiam Dupak, raised him alongside his two sisters. From a young age, he showed a natural skill for cutting hair. Whenever a neighbor needed a trim, he was ready with a pair of scissors, happy to help without expecting payment.
But life changed after his mother passed away a few years ago. His sisters, both married, were living with their in-laws, leaving him to manage the home alone. With no steady income and few opportunities in the village, his future looked uncertain — until his childhood friend and neighbor, Matpi Tabing, stepped in.
“He has always been hardworking and creative,” Tabing says. “I told him he could turn his hair-cutting skills into a real profession. It could help him earn money and take care of himself.”
With that encouragement, Dupak opened a small salon in an abandoned wooden hut at Rebing’s Bomu Camp, a place that once had a beautiful British-built Inspection Bungalow. A flash flood on June 11, 2000, swept the bungalow away, leaving only a few concrete pillars behind.
The shop is modest — a revolving chair, a mirror, and some basic tools — but its impact is big. For the villagers, it means no longer traveling 10 kilometers to Pangin for a haircut. Customers can now walk a short distance and get the service at their doorstep.
The business brings Dupak between ₹4,000 and ₹6,000 a month. Helping him get started was the Paator Guumin Government Employees Forum, the village’s only government employees’ group.
Led by PHE&WS assistant engineer Tadung Padung, the forum raised funds to buy him a trimmer, chair, mirror and other essentials. They even arranged for him to get professional training in Pasighat.
This is not the first time Dupak has shown independence. Years ago, he built his own semi-RCC house and even completed all the electrical wiring himself, without hiring any construction or wiring experts.
For his neighbors, his story is an example of what’s possible when someone with a disability is given support and opportunity.
“There are many like him,” Tabing says in sign language. “If someone just guides them, they can live with dignity and stand on their own.”
Now, in his small shop at Bomu Camp, Dupak sweeps the floor after a haircut, dusts off his chair, and waits for the next customer.
The air is still, but his work speaks louder than words — proof that with hard work, skill, and the belief of a few friends, even the quietest life can inspire an entire village.
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