He approaches a woman seated in his salon chair with his arms outstretched as if about to conduct a symphony. “First, we are going to grow the hair,” says Nuri Yurt, the owner of Toka Salon. He waves his hands over her dampened salt-and-pepper locks. His fingers flick around the perimeter of her head, tousling here and fluffing there until he’s ready to deliver his verdict. “But we are not there yet.”

But Yurt isn’t the only talented Turk in town. Especially in Georgetown, where there are so many Turkish salon owners and hairdressers, Wisconsin Avenue feels more like the Bosporus.

“This is our territory,” Yurt says. Half of the stylists he employs are Turkish. He has his own Turkish apprentice, a gorgeous young woman named Sezgi Acur who is currently mastering the blow-dry.

Western Union is seeking to enter into the intra-money transfer business in India, in addition to growing its network beyond 60,000 locations across the nation. Growing its electronic channel is one of its top priorities, Hikmet Ersek,  the chief executive officer of Western Union, told Sumit Sharma in an interview. Edited excerpts: