Root cause analysis

Having denied my femininity for a good part of my life, there came an age when I had to admit to being a girl. No, I am not talking about puberty! That was easier. I am talking of the time when I realised that, very unfortunately, I am attracted to boys, and being a tom boy alas isn't one of the better means to further my cause. Thus began the journey of discovering my feminine side, the boon and bane of being a woman. Here I focus on the Hair, from head to toe.

Before coming to the problems of hair, it is only fair to acknowledge how as females we are fortunate in certain matters.

1. We can wear our hair in different styles. The guys also have the privilege to wear it in whichever way they want, but unfortunately, they lack the privilege of not being mocked upon when they decide to defy evolution by attempting to resemble a rooster, a porcupine, or the shaggy dog
2. The problem of receding hairline in not that predominant. So no unnaturally big looking foreheads for us!
3. In case we are hit by the above male syndrome, we can conveniently hide behind a fringe which in fact produces the reverse effect of making us look younger. In fact we can hide any kind of baldness better behind the long hair. So no need for desperate attempts to force the hair behind left ear to cross over the deserted moor in the center to meet their brethren inhabiting behind the right ear.

Now come the cons!

1. If you have it, you better flaunt it!
   We are under a constant pressure to actually sport the very hair styles we are so privileged to have the choices of. This overchoice doesn't let us leave our hair at peace at the only place where if left alone it would be the least trouble
2. Where it is legitimate, it is supposed to look pretty!
   We have to go through the ritual of getting the eye brows done every fortnight/ month. Not that we run the risk of losing count of them if they grow into a uni-brow, it is about shaping them in unnatural arcs and curves for us to look pretty.
3.  Problem of plenty
   "Hair" should be made to see the bikini clad models to make it understand its rightful place. But no! It decides to go unruly and to rule all over, marking its mighty kingdom like in the map of Age of Empires!

Hair is much like the men in our lives. Whether you like it or not you have to make your truce and live with it. So, the faster we learn to tame it, the better!

Immaculate innocence!

Yesterday on my way to office, my car stopped at a traffic signal. As always, there were beggars hovering around different cars in the hope of some charity. A girl 8 - 10 years old, with sooty skin and brown-black hair tied in a braid, stood on the other side of the road. She had a 1 year old balanced between her left arm and chest, and was inclined to the left to support the weight with her lighter right leg slightly outstretched. She looked at me from a distance with narrowed eyes, scrunched her face into an expression of helplessness and extended her hand to ask for money. I smiled and shook my head to refuse. To my surprise, she grinned back and copied my head shake with a playful expression and questioning eyes, asking me to reconsider. I repeated my gesture with a wider smile which she returned with even a toothier one. After the drill repeated for a couple more times, she decided to step up the game. To her toothy smile, she added the swaying of her lighter right foot, synchronising the head sways to match the foot, like a kid adamant to convince her parents into buying  a toy on display. The next moment, the signal turned green. On seeing my car move, she stopped and merely raised her hand and waived me a good bye.