The long and short of it
My hair is skirting about 2 inches below the shoulder; I can do a neat plait. As I comb my hair, a familiar dilemma rises in my mind – do I continue to grow it or trim it short?
This dilemma started when I was a 5 years old. When I was five, the decisions were simple. Baby (Anitha) my best friend of those days had a bob. Since she was my guru, heroine, best friend and idol rolled into one that was the only way to go! So, short it was! So, it was off to Ramathilakam Aunty, the unofficial beautician of Cement Nagar. We did not have beauty parlours in those decades. Aunty had a good sense of style and really liked me, so she did it for me. As usual, Amma came to know of the deed only after it was committed. (How some things haven’t changed over the years!) But a few days/months after the hair-cut, I would want it all long, so I could put flowers in the hair. So I would decide no more cuts. The decision of course could reverse any moment!
A few years later came Appa’s retirement and the move to Trichur. Suddenly I was seeing girls with lovely long black tresses which they wore proudly and obviously took care of. It was now to Trikkur Chithi that I turned to for an answer. Chithi would comb my hair with my fingers for hours on end. And get me ‘Kurunthoti’ and other herbs and ‘venda velli chennay’. So under her loving care and the lovely water, coconuts of Trikkur, my hair grew lovely and long.
I wish I could say the story ended here and we all have lived happily ever after. But about 18 months later, the ‘FRINGE’ hit Trichur. Some in my class acquired one, so I decided to get one as well. So with the help of my friend Prema, I embarked on the cutting myself. A few days after the fringe though, I did not like it any more and I frantically wished my hair would go back to the original length.
In 11 and 12th came the trims and into engineering, it was back to shoulder length. But by now La Femme and other beauty parlours were mushrooming in Trichur. I think La Femme has single handedly changed the women in Trichur. Whatever would we do without their specialists!
My hair length through the years has waxed and waned. Sometimes it was because I wanted to, sometimes though it was an accident at the hands of the Chandra Layout beautician. A trim of 2 inches that I wanted would feel like 2 meters and I would feel a lucky escape to have at least 2 inches on my scalp. Come to think of it, maybe that is what she understood, so much for my mastering ‘Kannada’.
Now it is almost a constant shoulder length- to give me that ‘professional’, ‘no-nonsense’, ‘non-desi’ look that the English women wear so naturally. Of course, things aren’t that simple!
There have been other dilemmas on the way – perm, curl, colour, highlights etc. But thankfully they have not weighed too badly on me! :)
As I write this blog, I wonder why I think about this so often – then the reason hits me. Traditionally in our families, women grow their hair long. Aesthetically, long hair and Indian clothes like pavadai, saree, podavay and salwars go well.
Short hair when it happened in the 1980s and 1990s (and even now) is looked down upon, but it gave women some say and I liked this new independence & rebellion. And long hair/plaits the Indian way do not go well with trousers and skirts. Then, there is the aspect of maintenance as well.
After all this reasoning, I am still as indecisive as ever – I want it to be both short and long, short on certain days and long on others. A wig would probably be the answer but I really love my hair and cannot really see myself wearing somebody’s hair. I would feel like Paris Hilton! Ouch!
This dilemma started when I was a 5 years old. When I was five, the decisions were simple. Baby (Anitha) my best friend of those days had a bob. Since she was my guru, heroine, best friend and idol rolled into one that was the only way to go! So, short it was! So, it was off to Ramathilakam Aunty, the unofficial beautician of Cement Nagar. We did not have beauty parlours in those decades. Aunty had a good sense of style and really liked me, so she did it for me. As usual, Amma came to know of the deed only after it was committed. (How some things haven’t changed over the years!) But a few days/months after the hair-cut, I would want it all long, so I could put flowers in the hair. So I would decide no more cuts. The decision of course could reverse any moment!
A few years later came Appa’s retirement and the move to Trichur. Suddenly I was seeing girls with lovely long black tresses which they wore proudly and obviously took care of. It was now to Trikkur Chithi that I turned to for an answer. Chithi would comb my hair with my fingers for hours on end. And get me ‘Kurunthoti’ and other herbs and ‘venda velli chennay’. So under her loving care and the lovely water, coconuts of Trikkur, my hair grew lovely and long.
I wish I could say the story ended here and we all have lived happily ever after. But about 18 months later, the ‘FRINGE’ hit Trichur. Some in my class acquired one, so I decided to get one as well. So with the help of my friend Prema, I embarked on the cutting myself. A few days after the fringe though, I did not like it any more and I frantically wished my hair would go back to the original length.
In 11 and 12th came the trims and into engineering, it was back to shoulder length. But by now La Femme and other beauty parlours were mushrooming in Trichur. I think La Femme has single handedly changed the women in Trichur. Whatever would we do without their specialists!
My hair length through the years has waxed and waned. Sometimes it was because I wanted to, sometimes though it was an accident at the hands of the Chandra Layout beautician. A trim of 2 inches that I wanted would feel like 2 meters and I would feel a lucky escape to have at least 2 inches on my scalp. Come to think of it, maybe that is what she understood, so much for my mastering ‘Kannada’.
Now it is almost a constant shoulder length- to give me that ‘professional’, ‘no-nonsense’, ‘non-desi’ look that the English women wear so naturally. Of course, things aren’t that simple!
There have been other dilemmas on the way – perm, curl, colour, highlights etc. But thankfully they have not weighed too badly on me! :)
As I write this blog, I wonder why I think about this so often – then the reason hits me. Traditionally in our families, women grow their hair long. Aesthetically, long hair and Indian clothes like pavadai, saree, podavay and salwars go well.
Short hair when it happened in the 1980s and 1990s (and even now) is looked down upon, but it gave women some say and I liked this new independence & rebellion. And long hair/plaits the Indian way do not go well with trousers and skirts. Then, there is the aspect of maintenance as well.
After all this reasoning, I am still as indecisive as ever – I want it to be both short and long, short on certain days and long on others. A wig would probably be the answer but I really love my hair and cannot really see myself wearing somebody’s hair. I would feel like Paris Hilton! Ouch!