InkSpired Magazine Issue No. 37 | Page 80

THE STREETS BARBER Words: Kate Monahan Nasir Sobhani is not your average tattooed gentleman. He’s also not your average barber. He’s a man serving his community and those around him, living his life his way, which is to love what you do and to love others. He lives by a set of rules to never judge or discriminate, but to listen and most importantly, help. The 27 year old, known as “the Streets Barber” lives and works in Melbourne, Australia, where he works six days a week, and on his day off, cuts hair for people in need. Nasir’s parents are from Iran, but left before the revolution in the late ‘70s. They met in the Philippines while doing humanitarian work, then moved to Japan, where him and his brothers were born. They then lived in Canada as he was growing up, then to Hawaii, and finally the South Pacific. To attend university, Nasir went back to Canada for over three years. Due to a drug addiction, he admitted himself into a rehab center there. Nasir’s life from birth to now has been far from boring, living in many places and coming from a strong family devoted to helping others. After successfully completing and finishing his stay in rehab in Vancouver, battling addiction was most definitely his hardest issue in life. He had nothing going on and he didn’t want to stay any longer where he had been heavy in his addiction. Feeling strong enough to move away and start over, he spoke to his brother who was living in Melbourne and with his newfound strength after recovery, he made the move and has been there for three years. 78 InkSpIredMagazIne.coM