The story behind my ultra thin hairdo :(

Sunday, May 09, 2010 , , 9 Comments







I am telling you now, butt out! If you are still reading this, then I am not responsible if you hair becomes ultra thin too.

In India, a Mom becomes a mom, only when she does all these things listed below:
    • Apply 50 gms of Neem/Coconut/Herbal/ oil on their daughter's head everyday.

    • Use a special comb, to remove the lice from her hair.

    • Employ a maid, to use a wooden platter like comb with sharp wedge like teeth, to remove the poor would-be lice (lice eggs)

    • In my case 2 and 3 was not necessary at all, as I always sat next to Boys, still my mom believed Lices travel "seven pillows, seven beds and seven blankets." Trust me, I am not lying, almost all moms believe in this myth.

    • Thank god! I was not staying with my grandma, my cousins when they had lices on their hair, I remember my Paati (grandma) used Gamaxine powder. (which was used on those days to kill ants, there were no laxman rekha or Hit spray at that time) and she was of opinion that something that kills ants, should kill lice too. Even after Mediker came in to existence, she still believed gamaxine was more effective. Thank god for small mercies, she was not aware of Concentrated Sulphuric acid.

    • Weekends were nightmare to girls. Moms showered their extra love, by applying 100 gms of Neem/Coconut/Herbal/ oil on our heads and also on our bodies and we were allowed to wear only rags. I used to hate it when my friends (Boys) next door, giggled and called me "Yennai Kathirikai" (deep fried Brinjal). We were forced to stay this way for couple of hours and then allowed to take bath. Again my Mom would not trust me, she has that huge brass bowl which contained, Shikakai, it would burn eyes and leaves a VERY bitter taste in one's mouth. Whenever, I used to complain on the taste, my mom will tug at my hair and yell, "Only fools will swallow, are you one?" 

    • After this, sambirani, an incense smoke (benzoin resin) is used, to dry our hair. How much ever you cough, you can still not escape a loving mom's clutches.

    • After one hour of this agony, we should stand under the sun, and run our fingers through our hair, strand by strand and dry them. My mom and my friend's (girl) mom used to argue on whose tresses is longer and thicker.

    • Finally at 2 in the afternoon, we will have our lunch and after the oil massage and standing under the Sun,  eyes droop and beg to rest, while ruthlessly we will be forced to stay awake, as one should not sleep during the afternoon after taking oil bath.
How daughters grow up and show their first sign of resistance:
  • When I entered my 11th standard and after all the humiliation I faced because of my hair, I decided to take revenge.

  • I engaged a hair dresser. My first hair dresser, was my cousin Usha, who faced the same tortures I faced too, decided we would engage each other as our hair dressers.

  • I searched for a Scissor and found one in my Mom's sewing kit. Only that it was not very sharp. Usha tried chopping my hair and the hair got tangled with the scissor. She managed to retrieve and did the cutting,  realised that the left side is little shorter than the right, so she tackled the right side. The result was my waist length hair became shoulder length.

  • I tried to hide it, but not for long. My mom danced around me and was so furious, I still remember her red face.

  • My next vengence was in the form of trying out new shampoos. From Chik, Velvette, Lux, Sunsilk, I tried every shampoo available in the market, but nothing made my hair straight. It remained the usual way crooked, wavy and unsexy.  

  • Once I got married, I started going to beauty saloons and tried out different hair cuts. For one day it will look good, when the beautician set my hair, the next day it would become the same crooked, way and unsexy, only that my hair from shoulder length got reduced and stood at the end of my neck.

  • Still the revenge is going on, only that it is not a great challenge these days, as the total number of hairs on my scalp is close to 250. 

  • I got worried and checked with a dermatologist, and he advised me to apply 100 gms of Neem/Coconut/Herbal oil, soak and take bath with Shikakai :(
There, tell me what should I do now?

    Viji

    Some say he’s half man half fish, others say he’s more of a seventy/thirty split. Either way he’s a fishy bastard. Google

    9 Candles:

    Opaque said...

    Hahaha! A very humorous read! Hmm, I reckon life goes one full circle!

    Unknown said...

    my suggestion would be to continue ur experimentation until 250 becomes 25 and finally none...then you can try whatever style u want pre-fixed..the style will never whimper away the next day ..as long you take good care of the wigs ...lol

    Cool, how come its always the 11th standard for almost every girl??? the nostalgia for all of us? I have a girl baby and i have told myself not to make her go through what i went through. But believe me every genre parents have got their own load of mistakes which the next genre decides not to follow only to do something new.

    I like the sambrani part. Me & miss used to love this ritual alone... but no elaborate oil bath like u-:)

    Thinking of the pleasant smell that neem oil will radiate from ur head that time -:)

    Prabodh said...

    Oh ..for ur hairs....and Wow for the Post...:D ...Well I am too in ur shoes my hair count be close to 250 .. :( ...it is since more than a year my hair has been oiled...does Oiling helps...let me know ...

    Viji said...

    @Ajey happy that you liked it
    @Irma thanks for dropping in :)
    @blacksnow when my hair become zilch, i wouldn't wear a wig, i would look like shabana azmi without hair.
    @radhekrishna Thank you so much for dropping in. I checked your blog, happy to see that it is a sampradaya blog and your radha krishna profile picture itself stole my heart. Let swami ramanuja's blessings shower on you.

    Viji said...

    @devs even in my dreams neem oil smell wafts :)
    @Prabodh oiling and shampooing helps thats what the doctor said, plus he asked me to take iron supplements :)all the best. pls let me know if your hair grow then I will start adopting the same.

    Unknown said...

    Well, Viji. I guess its more to do with other factors like work, Ani and ... (I guess you are pulling your hair even now).He he

    Viji said...

    that too kiran... there is nothing left to pull, already in my hands :)

    wisdom comes with experience

    At one, I learnt crawling was fun. At forty one, I still feel crawling is fun #blamemykneesnotme