AT first glance, it doesn’t seem a ‘‘normal’’ thing to do. Why on earth would anyone get their tresses, in this case, sliced, burnt or simply chopped off by a blindfolded hairstylist? ‘‘To be different,’’ reasons Nadeem Ahmed of Sector 17’s Rex Salon, who now finds mention in the Limca Book of Records for the year 2005 for his out-of-the-box ‘‘creativity.’’

The 26-year-old stylist has traded in his scissors for a candle, some paper cutters and blades to give you a perfect haircut. ‘‘It all started about two years back,’’ mentions Ahmed, who interestingly took to tress-dressing on his own. ‘‘I don’t have a guru in real terms. I have got all my gyan from the Internet as I have learnt all that I know about hairstyling from the world wide web,’’ informs Ahmed. It didn’t take long for him to turn professional. ‘‘But I wanted to do something more exciting and yes, different,’’ admits Ahmed, who decided to experiment. And that he truly did in his own way.

‘‘Initially using a burning candle to snip off hair was difficult as the wax would hurt. Now, we use ayurvedic candles that don’t have wax falling on hands or on a client’s hair,’’ says Ahmed, who uses the same to style hair. And yes, in his case scissors are passe. ‘‘Candle-cutting is in fact good for hair as it does away with split-ends. As far as blades and paper cutters go, they’re good for a sharp edgy cut that’s a rage these days,’’ he tells us.

But why the blindfold? For those of you who don’t know, Ahmed excels in giving haircuts in complete darkness — he does the same blindfolded. ‘‘That’s all about technique,’’ he says sporting a proud grin. Having practised diligently, Ahmed says, ‘‘he knows the exact shape of the head and which way the hair is set.’’ But it must take a lot for customers to, like they say, blindly agree. ‘‘Not really. I think everyone trusts me and what I do and the record proves that there aren’t many out there like me.’’

While there are two more stylists mentioned in the book for the same pursuits, Ahmed’s already moved on. He’s now eying the big one — the Guinness Book of World Records. ‘‘I want to cut with eight scissors at a time. There is a record for six already and I want to beat that,’’ he tells us. What for, we ask. ‘‘To be different,’’ he answers, quite predictably.

jagmeeta@expressindia.com