Long hair is considered to be the crowning glory of a woman. Pick out any of your favorite film stars or models, you will be hard pressed to find one with short hair. Thick, luscious, gorgeous long mane is every woman’s pride. Most women lament about hair fall and losing hair as they age. Most of those who sported a thick, lush mane when they were younger without anything more than a shampoo wash, now try all kinds of hair care products under the sun but their days of hairy glory are clearly behind them.
I, on the other hand, have always kept my hair on the shorter side. From a really short boy cut throughout school to shoulder length, I loved keeping it short. It was easier to manage and maintain. In a society that worships long hair, I may have been an aberration. Frankly, I never had the patience to even comb long mane. But then a year back, purely out of laziness of not getting a haircut, my hair grew out more than it normally does. I am blessed with a curly crop which is voluminous and does tend to get frizzy sometimes. The longer curls did look quite lovely or at least that is what most of the women told me. They egged me on with compliments and lo and behold, I got my long hair styled in layers, still maintaining the length.
I continued to grow it till it reached waist length. This was the longest my hair had ever grown. In the meanwhile, on one of our chats, my friend, Latha, told me about Locks of Love. This organization uses hair donated by folks like you and me to make wigs for children who suffer from hair loss due to medical treatment. A noble cause to which she and her son had already contributed. I promised her that whenever I had a haircut I would contribute to this cause.
True to my word, this summer when I was truly itching to reduce the load on my head and all the time I was spending in washing and maintaining my long hair, I remembered to donate my hair. When I told my hairdresser about it, she was intrigued. She also gave me some hair that she had cut that day from other clients. So armed with a lighter head, a smart haircut and a bag full of beautiful hair, I came home. I dispatched the hair through Latha’s friend to Locks to Love.
Here is the lovely certificate they sent which makes me feel very proud.
One small hitch is that they do not operate in India. But there are other NGOs that collect hair in India and use it for similar causes. Do google them and make sure that you contribute your hair to charity if you are ever chopping off your long locks. Remember that you need to contribute minimum 10 inches of hair.
While it made me very happy that my hair was going to be worn by some lovely child, that very same evening a woman sneered when she took one look at me. “What was the need to cut it so short?” she muttered to another lady. I held back my tongue. We are all used to unsolicited words and taunts in this country. I didn’t want to dignify her stupidity by responding.
My hair, my choice!It’s only hair, after all.
Do consider contributing to this noble cause when someone in your family chops off their long locks next.
Rachna says 
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