There, the dads practise parting hair, combing, tying, braiding and securing the styles on mannequins. Some struggle to keep the strands in place, while others take more than an hour to learn even a basic braid. A few dads even brought their daughters – although they decided against using their girls’ real hair as demos. 

“The point isn’t about being instantly good, but trying – I’m still learning with you too,” Rajendram, who led the workshop alongisde Rukshan, told the attendees. 

He hopes that by the time fathers leave the room, they will feel confident enough to try again at home – this time on their girls – even if the result is not perfect.

Roy Choudhury, a 42-year-old who works in banking and has two daughters aged eight and five, said he wanted to “stop being the butt of the joke at home”.

“My daughters would tease each other by saying things like, ‘If you don’t stop disturbing me, Papa will do your hair!’ as if it was the worst thing that could happen,” he said. “I really wanted to change that.”

Another father, Richard, 45, who has a two-year-old girl and an older son who likes to keep his hair long, said even the smallest effort made a difference.

“The smallest effort I’d show in just tying or combing their hair would delight them,” he said. “I don’t want that to be the benchmark for dads. We need to be better and actually have something to be proud of.”