I am talking about Dyeing. Not the Art of Living!
At first sight of a few strands of white hair on our scalp – male or female – agitation makes a grand entry in our lives, never abandoning until the Maker bula leta hai!
Oh, I am getting old. Want to remain youthful always. An impossible task. But lage raho, Munnabhai!
If desires were to be horses, you know the rest. Right?
What all we attempt to keep it black! Money spent on this task is sizeable. Because that is one place, we basket the color prejudice. Black is BEAUTIFUL.
Tell me, who has not tried plucking the whites hoping that would halt black from conceding defeat?
When the ratio of black vs. white was tilting in favor of the latter yet not crossing the threshold 50-mark, we began boasting of “salt and pepper”. Soon, salt and pepper turn into the pure white snow. You concede defeat to the unwinnable Time. Unmerciful, too.
Like many others, I did attempt to dye while crossing the 40s. For the next week, my top was full of rashes and boils. Yes, my skin was allergic to chemicals. That’s when I gave up. Govinda, Govinda, Govindaaaa! (Apologies to Tirupati Tirumala Venkatachalapati)
I stopped asking my contemporaries with jet-black hair soon after that. I know their secret.
Some contemporaries were lucky to have gone Yul Brynner of the Ben Hur and Ten Commandments fame. Or Cho Ramaswamy.
By the by, I can’t recall any of my contemporary colleagues having taken the bald route. Does anyone on my timeline wish for voluntary disclosure?
In my mother tongue Tamil, we curse mayiraa pochu! I fail to understand why we belittle the most-valued item on our sharir!
[Main Image by Bruno/Germany from Pixabay has been used for illustrative purposes only]
Also, by the same author: It was disappointing watching Vikram; too much hype was created over social media – THE NEWS PORTER
The author is a seasoned business and economic journalist. He can be reached at konsultramesh@gmail.com. In this column, ‘Business Monitor’, he presents a global perspective on happenings in the world of business, commerce, economics and trade. The views are the author’s own, and The News Porter bears no responsibility for the same.
