No-Nonsense Chayaisms from the 80s…When I greyed

  When I greyed

The  moment is very dramatic in a Hindi film. The lady looks into the mirror and spots a grey hair, nesting innocuously in her luxurious black tresses.

She stares at it and there is a flashback showing her lover boy sniffing her hair and burying his face in it. It’s now time to battle with the cruel stamp of the rolling years. A song immortalises the sad moment and all the women in the cinema hall, hurry home and to look into the mirror.

But nothing so subtle and poignant happened to my hair. I don’t know how or when it happened but a grey streak appeared at my temples like a clumsy make-up man had worked on it to add respectable years to my face. This grey patch has added colour to my life as it has provoked many observations from friends and foes!

“You are greying or what?”asked my colleague when she saw me combing my hair, in the cloak room. It was difficult for me to answer such a profound question. I could not possibly say ‘no’ as the streak was so obvious. A ’yes’ would mean confessing a guilt!

“Even you have started greying!” exclaimed my husband’s friend. How can I explain to him that I’m an ordinary mortal, subjected to the ‘stings’ of time and have no supernatural powers to stay its course? If millions of women can grey without their being questioned, why shouldn’t I?

“Expect for your grey hair, you don’t look your age”, cooed a lady sweetly when I revealed the dark secret of my age. How very comforting it is to know that! One better came from another who said, “Don’t worry, it’s better to go grey than bald!” That’s what I call a choice between the devil and the deep sea.

“Now you look like mummy,” said my sons proudly. They were a little perturbed because one of their friends had mischievously asked them who ‘that dame’ was when they saw them with me! He wanted an “intro” I believe! Very flattering to me but “infra dig” for the boys! They refuse to let me dye my grey locks. It gives them a sense of security they say. Perhaps there will be less juvenile delinquents in the world if there is a ban on hair dyes!

“Gives you an intellectual look,” was my hairdressers comment when I asked her to snip some bangs and cover the grey. But what decided for me was my husband’s observation –“You know you have a wife’s face and a mother’s head. ”Now, I carry my grey with grace!