Seedhi Baatein ......

This is  a great time to be a manufacturer of shampoo tubes and bottles. A wide range of colors, names,  and dedicated ways in which various shampoos can serve humankind. And you can be run off your feet keeping track of orders and meeting deadlines, while you slog and become a Hair Saviour.  

There are companies, falling all over themselves, coming out with shampoos of every persuasion. Shampoos for strength (you can pull stalled cars with your hair), shampoos for killing the dandruff and getting back to wearing little black dresses (without white sprays), shampoos for fooling folks into believing that your hair has more volume than it does, and shampoos that detangle your hair. I mean even babies  have their own shampoos, despite a noticeable sole wisp of hair standing up in solitary protest.

I've never understood this. Back in the ancient days when Sundays were about someone washing your hair with a Shikekai solution in a no nonsense manner, and you secretly pining for the lone Tata Oil Shampoo that suddenly appeared at the chemists, it was all about accepting the hair you were born with. Plaits were the order of the day,  you dried you hair, as a bunch of two small side tiny control plaits, met at the back, keeping the entire open expanse under check.

You never questioned all this as you were surrounded by folks , who then, even in their late 70's and 80's sported silky black , albeit thinned hair, having followed the same wash and dry routine. Leaving your long hair combed wide open, and attending social do's never happened. I remember someone being called Seeta-from-AshokVan, when she did that.

Today, you comb, backcomb, turn, twist, color and  clip your hair in myriads of ways. Leaving it all open is also a hairstyle. Sometimes you even do something to your hair to make it look as if it is permanently wet.  Some folks, particularly men, think, having a forest of hair strands standing up straight  on top of your head, makes you irresistible.

Shoulder length curly wavy hair in the summer is not a good idea. Any attempt to tie it up to feel cool never succeeds, because so many strands and curls escape. And I have always secretly envied folks who could cleanly tie their hair together without the filmy tendrils.

And so it was with a sense of relief that I noticed the Sunsilk folks coming up with a shampoo that would leave my hair straight after a wash. Very recently, a  sample appeared in the mail thanks to Indiblogger, who I must say , has been supremely concerned about blogger hair, in the recent months.

Just read the instructions to ensure I didn't miss out on something. Fairly simple. I used the shampoo and the conditioner as mentioned, and emerged, with the hair wrapped, warrior style.  It had already come to my attention that quantities of shampoo and conditioner had dramatically receded before I got there. That's what happens when you have a straight hair obsessed daughter in the house.

She rushed in , convinced as she is about my amazing ignorance about "modern hair". Kind of dabbed at  my hair with the towel, and then sort of moved her fingers around in the hair, to loosen lumps and disentangle stuff a bit. Got one of the large toothed combs she uses, and did a gentle wandering through the hair.

She seemed to be observing and thinking.  Possibly how to keep the rest of the shampoo stuff from me, so she could use it herself.

"Ya, looks a bit straightened, doesn't it ?  But hey , I've never see these white strands before ! How come they are here ? ...."  this from someone who keeps pointing out appearances of grey in my hair, as if it is the worst thing to befall me.

What she hasn't realized is that the natural curls and waves  often played a stellar role in falling over certain areas out of sheer habit.  These areas were those with , what I call wise hair.  :-)    You straighten out everything, and everything is open to the world, including previously invisible grey and white patches of hair. It's OK .....

Yes, there is a bit of straightening towards the lower ends, which normally show waves and curls.  The straightening lasted for a couple of days.   Maybe it would have lasted longer had I obsessively bothered about my hair in all that time. Like   combing through it frequently. Lightly and delicately brushing it every now and then. Covering it in the Sun and polluted Mumbai air.  NOT shoving it back with flour on my hands.  NOT giving it a vigorous brush after coming in on a hot sweaty afternoon, and then haphazardly pinning it up.

It seems to me that this is as good a time to take a good look at what we inflict on ourselves in the name of fashion .  Constant unnatural hair color changes, streaks in the hair , metallic color,  piercing of the anatomy in weird places for displaying jewellery , excessive chemical treatments to lighten complexions, and finally, changing your God given features under the scalpel.  You may change the physique, and at some point it changes the psyche.

It is simpler to occasionally make reversible changes, and enjoy. Keeping your original self intact, inside and outside.  

Enjoy the Sun.  The flowing Silk of your hair. 

Its a good idea to straighten out.

Your lives.  As well as your hair.     




This post is a product review for the Sunsilk Perfect Straight Shampoo & Conditioner pack I received from  Indiblogger as part of the contest powered by Sunsilk Perfect Straight Hair initiative.