Today is Special

A faint orange glow
from her broken window
She gets up, says a prayer,
smiles at her little palms
And decides to try something
new with her hair

Neatly partitioned in the centre,
Two slim french braids.
Just like the girl
from the movie theatre.
It takes her longer
to get ready for school.
She irons out her brother's
uniform before her pinafore.
But the braids are important.
The popular girls
will finally notice her.

A quick kiss on mother's cheek,
she strides out with her bicycle.
Today, she is leading her class assembly.

Today is special.
There is a raatraani tree on her way.
She picks the fallen flowers,
still fresh, fragrant and moist,
And begins to arrange them in her braid.

"Hi, beautiful", someone calls from ahead.
She hadn't noticed the cycles parked
A little way off until just now.
She doesn't like the voice.
It makes the word sound cursed.

Laughter follows as she whirls around
to get back to her cycle. Her safety.
But they catch up with her.
She knows some of them.
That boy with the cut lip,
he works in the city.
His brother is in her class.
They smile at her.
She knows it isn't a good smile.

She pretends they aren't there
and continues to walk on.
Her mother taught her
to ignore such men.

One of them asks if she is
uncomfortable in her dress.
Should he help her out of it?
She wants to cry
But she walks.

As she gets on to her safety,
the city-boy says to the others - his whore
puts raatrani in her hair.

Pedaling on as fast
as her legs can carry,
she doesn't dare look back.
In her frenzy to get the flowers
out of her hair, her braids
come undone.

She must stop crying before
she reaches school.
She has an assembly to lead.

The hair is always shinier on the other head

Girls with curls want to straighten their hair and those with sleek hair want curls. Classic case of female envy. That's what beauty salons feed on - our insecurities. We women are quite self-conscious. Those who claim you're not, who are you kidding? We use the rear-view mirror inside the car only to re-apply lipstick before we get out.

I have naturally straight, black hair. The length and style varies countless times in a year depending on the seasons and my unpredictable moods. Most recently, I also added some colour to it. Every fortnight, I get bored looking at the same reflection in the mirror and then go do something drastic with what I can experiment the most on - my hair. Once upon a time, I had long hair. But now I just don't have the patience for it anymore. Thanks to my habit of oiling my hair (or so we Indian women believe), I have had no complaints of dry hair. Even after I bleached sections of it to look like Nicki Minaj.

Anyway, I got a bob cut six months ago but it didn't seem shocking enough to make me like what I saw in the mirror. Therefore the colour. This is what I looked like then:

 

Now, the burgundy/pink is almost all gone and the straw-colour of the bleach that remains resembles a manjaa (a thread which is used to fly kites).

How many times have you ditched a social gathering simply because your hair didn't agree with you? I bail on 70% of the outings I get invited to. In hindsight, I rot at home 90% due to silly reasons like - my hair is not shiny enough, it is falling flat today or I look like a beaten-up Rihanna (no offence, Ri.)

I now have an award-winning and rather hassle-free solution to these vanities.

A Ramp-Ready Hairstyle at home!

In fact, I had no idea that my beautiful mane makes heads turn because of my simple trick while shampooing! I took for granted the extra volume my just-washed hair assumes and retains for at least two days thence. (I mean, isn't everybody's hair supposed to look fabulous after a hair-wash?) However, only after a slightly jealous friend asked how I managed a voluminous look did I realize that my way of hair-wash is not known to many.

So, here's what I suggest you should do too:

o   This works well with any good shampoo. Just do what you always do.

o   To rinse it off, however, while standing under the head shower, turn your hair upside down and face the floor so that the water falls from the nape of your neck to your forehead.

o   The last rinse, most importantly, should be with freezing cold water in the same face-down position (cold water gives guaranteed shine to your hair)

o   Conditioning is a must because it is essential that you do not have knots in your hair

o   After you're done washing, don't rub a towel on your hair to dry it

o   Simply wrap it around the upturned hair and squeeze the excess water

o   Keep the towel wrapped. You may leave it on while you get dressed, do your make-up etc for the big party.

o   After all that is done, face down again, remove the towel and use a wide-tooth comb on your damp hair in the same upturned position only. Comb from back to front, neck to forehead, preferably directly under a fan.

o   Ultimately, turn your head up and toss your hair back with a flourish

o   Do not comb your hair now. Simply let it dry.

o   Use your fingers to set it in place, where needed.

o   You can use a hairspray if you so desire to lock the just-washed hair look.

Voila!

This works 100% on straight, sleek, black and shiny hair. (yes, I show-off.)

For more Ramp-Ready Hairstyles for your hair-type, check out: http://www.youtube.com/user/TresemmeIndia/RampReadyHair

There are awesome DIYs for curly (makes me wish I had curls) and wavy hair, too!

Feeling sexy,

Wannabe Wayfarer