Hairy Tales: Of men and hair!

Ah!! My second post about hair! How long has it been since my first post ?? And I thought I was someone who hardly cared about the hair. 

A few months ago, when I got myself a bob-cut from my shoulder length hair, the boyfriend threw a fit and went home without dropping me back to campus. And as stubborn as I am, I went ahead and got another trim just a few weeks back. Boyfriend refused to talk to me. For a while. 

My comeback?? 

"I'll grow my hair till it grows out as long as Lalsangzuali's hair if you'd buy me every shampoo satchet, every dollop of conditioner, every scoop of hair mask and every drop of hair oil". 

Sheesh... I don't take care of my hair that much. It's just that I'm too stubborn and I never go down without a fight. I also ,somehow, always add a sting of "outdated mindset" every time he talks about how he wished I'd grow out my hair.

Honestly speaking, I don't know what is the deal with men and long hair?? Like taking the boyfriend for example. He likes my neglected dried-out long strands rather then my short nourished bob!! 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against long lustrous hair. In fact, from aged 9 through 18, I always kept long hair. It all started with the day when my Ma caught me in fight with one of the boys while playing football. I was 9 and barely knew I was a girl. My Ma later told me that somehow, she hoped, growing out my hair and forcing me to wear dresses and skirts would make me more feminine. Did it? I don't know. Honestly. I am no lady today. But boys no longer end up with torn shirts after having a fight with me. 

So my decade of wearing long hair came to an end when I chopped it off up to my ears during Secondary school. Well, I couldn't go through the trouble of making twin braids every morning as per the school uniform. And my thick steel-wooly hair wouldn't co-operate with my braids. My Ma almost fainted when she saw me that winter. She was so quick to buy me decorative hairpins and what nots. Sometimes, I feel I disappointed my Ma in some way. God only knows what trouble she went through, trying to reform her tomboy daughter, her only daughter into a little lady!!

If I had long lustrous hair like my roommate has, I would have kept it. I would have styled it differently everyday and sometimes go wavy, curly or straight. I would've had fun with my lustrous locks. But Alas! that's one blessing that skipped me. And my dry damaged hair is just too much to handle in the Delhi heat. Besides, the shorter the hair, the lesser the hassle.

And any ways, it's not always the hair that makes the lady! Or is it??

It's amazing how a hair cut can spurn out new names for you.

"Zual-hana" straight from "Rihanna" when I first went for the bob.

When a friend called me a Victoria Beckham wannabe, I retorted that I was aiming gradually for the Anne Lennox shave!! 

And a particularly bold and creatively wicked friend posted a picture of HE-MAN on my Facebook wall, silently suggesting that my haircut looks like his'; which without missing a beat, caught on like wildfire among my choir circle!! If a deep "Hey He-man" came from the bass line during choir practice, I'd have to turn over from my contralto line before they become into chants. I usually just laughed and played along with it. But Becky my friend cum hairdresser cum hair stylist was very insulted by the last comment. Who wouldn't  be??

The Hair Transformation during 10 months time. The third pic is the 'Zual-hanna" look; the rightmost, my famous supposedly  'He-man' hair!! I don't think I look powerful enough to have the 'power of the GreySkull'

Strings of "Why did you cut your hair?" followed me when I went home in summer. And I noticed it all came  from the male relatives. After a dozen round of the same questions, I got tired of being polite. If ever the same question repeats itself, I'd grunt "Because I want to."

But last resort happened when I was travelling in South Mizoram this summer. 

In the little village of Sangau, down south, an old family friend who saw me for the first time since I chopped my locks, gave me a long hard look. I smiled at him sheepishly expecting another round of "Why did you cut your hair?". He then asked me to sit next to him and then to turn around. I did.

Then he said to me " Hmanah khan i sam hi tinge ti hian i cut daih loh? Tihian i inhmeh ber anih hi !"

I am not a hugger. Especially with older people I'm not very close with. 

But I laughed and gave that old man a BIG bear hug.