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`Don't stress out the tresses'

Why this obsession with hair, asks Divya Adusumilli

PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

DIVYA A.

I wonder if this is some kind of obsession — to have "perpetual, good hair days." I torture my hair for a gloss. I shampoo, condition and blow-dry it for a minimum of an hour everyday. My friends too wilfully follow this routine. We banter about tresses and the stresses, and scrutinise the hues of our hair. We go for such treatments, fully aware of the harm chemicals can cause.

My friend once coloured her brown hair brown. She said she cut her hair and was trying out a new look. The `newness' was lost on me. I let my friends try their hand on my hair too. Once they got a pack of light brown dye and put highlights on my hair. My father told me that I looked like a "coconut shell."

We may have healthy hair, but we try out multi-coloured, funky and iridescent hairdos. I am amused it has even rubbed off on men.Perhaps, we are expressing our individuality with the styles. But when it is a craze, the thin line between individuality and imitation blurs. Dresses make statements. And experimenting with styles certainly adds a little bounce to your walk.

There is no arguing that it is a great feeling to look beautiful. But with hairstyles, maybe we should go a little easy. For now, it is extreme experimentation. We think straight hair is in and we iron ours flat. Then when we see the curls on magazine covers, we roll up our hair in curlers. If we don't keep a check on our creative urge, we may not have much left to work with.

Fashion and makeovers are but a fraction of the whole. When the heart is in the right place, even the grey-haired can make heads turn.

SOUND OFF! is a weekly space for you to rant, applaud or talk about anything on your mind. Write to metro@thehindu.co.in telling us a little about yourself (with address and phone number), and you may get a chance to sound off!

AS TOLD TO ASHA MENON

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