Another matter of great importance which the barbers have to do with is a little tuft of hair that is allowed to grow from the top of the head of a child when all the rest of the scalp is shaven.  This is a commendable precaution, and is almost universally taken in the interest of children, the scalp lock being necessary to snatch the child away from the devil and other evil spirits when it is in danger from those sources.  As the person grows older and capable of looking after himself this precaution is not so important, although many people wear the scalp lock or sacred topknot through life.

The sacred thread is even of greater importance in Hinduism, and the Brahmins require that each child shall be invested with it in his eighth year.  Until that year also he must bear upon his forehead the sign of his caste, which Ryas, our bearer, calls “the god mark.”  The sacred thread is a fine silk cord, fastened over the left shoulder, hanging down under the right arm like a sash.  None but the two highest castes have the right to wear it, although members of the lower castes are even more careful to do so.  It is put on a child by the priest or the parent on its eighth birthday with ceremonies similar and corresponding to those of our baptism.  After the child has been bathed and its head has been carefully shaved it is dressed in new garments, the richest that the family can afford.  The priest or godfather ties on the sacred thread and teaches the child a brief Sanskrit text called a mantra, some maxim or proverb, or perhaps it may be only the name of a deity which is to be kept a profound secret and repeated 108 times daily throughout life.  The deity selected serves the child through life as a patron saint and protector.  Frequently the village barber acts in the place of a priest and puts on the sacred thread.  A similar thread placed around the neck of a child, and often around its waist by the midwife immediately after birth, is intended as an amulet or charm to protect from disease and danger.  It is usually a strand of silk which has been blessed by some holy man or sanctified by being placed around the neck of an idol of recognized sanctity.

The streets of the native quarters of Indian cities are filled with naked babies and children.  It is unfashionable for the members of either sex to wear clothing until they are 8 or 10 years old.  The only garment they wear is the sacred string, with usually a little silver charm or amulet suspended from it.  Sometimes children wear bracelets and anklets of silver, which tinkle as they run about the streets.  The little rascals are always fat and chubby, and their bright black eyes give them an appearance of unnatural intelligence.  The children are never shielded from the sun, although its rays are supposed to be fatal to full grown and mature persons.  Their heads being shaved, the brain is deprived of its natural protection, and they never wear hats or anything else, and play all day long