Hair today, gone tomorrow

Forget about the hair fall and the anti-aging creams; embrace your wrinkles and flaunt your baldness.

Spotting a strand of white in a head full of black hair is fairly easy and insignificant, but if you are over 30, it can be very traumatic. Combine this with the hair-fall situation and the ever-increasing “naked-eye” visibility of your scalp and hello, Paranoia.

Depending on:

(a) how rich (or poor) you are

(b) how bad the present situation really is, or

(c) your organic/herbal orientation (straight or otherwise), one of the following will be your next course of action:

1. Pretend everything is okay and do nothing; after all, you still have a lot more hair compared to cousin Salman (and I really mean a lot).


2. Try black henna, kaali mehndi, to cover up those grays, or hair-dye; stay 21-years-old for the rest of your life. Then again, some choose to go all out with the regular henna, turning their hair, and sometimes beard too, a weird shade of orange - a definite no-no!


3. Rush to the supermarket and grab a variety of shampoos claiming to give you super-strong hair (photo shopped?) and/or decrease hair-fall (like that ever works). If everything fails, you can find solace in cursing the likes of Katrina Kaif and Shahid Afridi for misleading you.


4. Get a wig; there is no better time than the present to reinvent yourself with a new look.


5. Sign up for the latest herbal fads and a promise to turn back your biological clock; it’s either ‘go organic’ or ‘go bald’.


6. Enter the highly over decorated foyer of the hair transplant clinic and ask for the best plugs/grafts money can buy; you’ve always wished the hair on your head was as thick and lustrous as that on other parts of your body (or as Harry Potter would call them, ‘parts-that-shall-not-be-named’) –  dreams do come true.

It’s no wonder hair-care is a multi-billion dollar industry that fools people into thinking they can have model-gorgeous hair within the confines of their homes, a misconception most of us fall for. Thousands of cosmetics companies and research facilities spend an exorbitant amount of money trying to create the ultimate serum, the magic element that will eventually cure all hair-related ills.

Like in any flourishing industry, a bunch of hair-care companies run cons and play on people’s psychological state to rob them off every penny. Unfortunately, I have met and heard stories of many people going totally bald or platinum because of such products. Even after knowing and hearing about such horrific accidents, we find ourselves lunging towards every new product that tugs at the strings of our heart.

"I can feel it in my bones; this one will work. After all, it’s being endorsed by Little Miss Perfect."

Ever wondered why we fall for these scams the way we do, time and time again? Some people call it a midlife crisis, with an average lifespan of 65 years, it seems just about right. Others call it going over the hill, but try as you might, you are not getting any younger; the sooner you realize this, the better. We lunge at every affordable opportunity to get back our lost years, turn back time, be Benjamin Button; then again, he did die eventually. Some of us spend so much time in these self-obsessions that we neglect our loved ones, often hurting their feelings in the process. Time keeps fleeting by, yet we keep searching for that ultimate high, letting little moments of happiness go right in front of our eyes.

I am what you might call an optimist; I hope for the best, knowing what realities I have to face. We should all keep in mind that we are not here forever; the clock’s a-tickin’ and we should make every moment worthwhile, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Forget about the hair fall and the anti-aging creams, embrace your wrinkles, flaunt your baldness, and be happy with what you have; one look around and you’ll spot thousands who don’t have even a tenth of what you have.

 

This blog was originally published here. Follow the writer @YousufBawany