Her Hair-Story....

July 01, 2012

*FICTION*

H is 29. On 12^th of this September, she will be 30. Still unmarried, she never even had a boy-friend. Having born to a conservative family where it has been like a vow taken by family to stick their old beliefs and stubborn enough to ignore anything new, it would have been a crime worse than murder to have a boy-friend. But then, she also didn't want to have one.

Never been a person of sure-shot confidence, She graduated when she was 21, then did a post graduation certificate course in women studies, all from correspondence and then sat at home because girls in her family are supposed to “not do a job”. Not that it was because of apparent hair-loss, but a general acceptance of a family culture, according to which it was time to look for a groom. Letting a girl out of house for a”job” would have resulted in lesser no. of proposals in a conservative society like hers. But it was never a matter to think about for H. It was another right thing that her family was doing and she was happy.

Then in front of her eyes 6 years went by while her family was constantly looking for a groom. She turned 27, relatives started asking her too to take up a job as working women were in “demand” and some advised her to go for a makeover. In between she many a times asked her mother and grandmother about the constant shedding of her hair, but every time it was a home-remedy that was prescribed to her as seeking specialist for “hair-problems” for a girl would result in a lesser no. of proposals.

First, she was yelled at for not using enough oil although she said that she cannot as her hair are really thin. Then there was prescription of a hair-oil that her cousin used to use but it left in her hair severe dandruff. She asked to take her to a specialist, but instead, she was asked to use henna. As dehydrating as it is, it left the hair more fragile. H understood the way things were going and decided not to say anything. She changed her hairstyle that made bare scalp covered.

From the last three yrs, H has almost stopped stepping out of house, let alone socializing. Marriage is not the only reason. Actually it’s her hair.

Her hair are so fragile and thin that she can’t tie them in a good pony tail, let alone in a bun. The hair loss is so much that she can’t afford to stand in rain, as a few drops of water on the head makes her baldness visible.

Some forced visits to a few doctors are done but the treatment has never really sought by the family.

Though going to a hair specialist has never been a custom in the family, yet a local doctor prompted a possibility of alopecia, but the family has not paid any attention. It’s a disease which has to be paid a lot of attention. Specially in a society like ours where hair are an important part of a girl’s personality.

Through the constant searches on google, H now knows that Alopecia is generally incurable if not taken care of when it starts. Also she read that using oil generally adds to the problem. She read of hair-transplant that is taking quite the attention these days but it too seems a far-off dream.

H has changed. She has now understood a lot of things that women need to go out and seek knowledge, that changes are to accepted, that family “values” should be abandoned the moment they lose value and become a mistake.

She understands. She tries to make the family understand & sometimes yell... She reacts too…She cries!

Today as she opened her inbox, there were some new mails. Two of them were notifications of the new posts of the blogs she has just started to follow. One of them was for an entry for some competition by Dove about a hair-post. Her eyes stuck on the bold words of the last line. And after reading a Rapunzel-like fantasy, she sighed.

Wished for a day where she too could replicate those words-and that was the end of my hair problems………