Love of Locks V/S Locks of Love

Love is a two way street: Love your hair and it loves you back!

Art by Farheena

With the launch of the new Dove Nourishing Oil Care Range, Dove and IndiBlogger present the “Love your Hair and it loves you back” blogger contest and I cannot skip writing about my special needs daughter Farheena when it comes to loving the locks. 
 

She  loves her long hair with her whole heart. All of the pictures she draws usually have people with long plaits. She loves to decorate it with flowers too, unlike me. In return her hair loves her back. Other than the occasional dandruff, she faces no threats or problems from her hair. It grows fast, is thick and very smooth to feel. The knots in her long her open up quite easily; though, she makes a lot of fuss about it when I am trying to comb her hair. In her younger days, my family loved to give her different hairstyles with short hair. At the age of 9 she decided she wanted to grow her hair and have her hair flow long enough to reach her waist. I had to give in to her wishes and it was easy to give in, because I myself wanted her to have long plaits.

 Contrary to the city life, our lazy village life doesn’t allow me get professional pampering for her hair. All she gets is the Maa’s oil massage, shampooing and brushing. But that was enough to have her hair on a growing spree.

Everything changed when I decided to visit USA and meet my friends over there. My friend Paula was totally smitten by Farheena’s hair. She loved to comb and decorate it in various styles. She was surprised to know that Farheena had never received any special treatment for her hair. So off she took her to Marie (a very good friend and Paula’s hair stylist) to show off Farheena’s  lovely hair to to her. Marie in her turn ohhhed and wowed over it. Marie loved pampering Farheena’s hair and gave her an amazing new look. Farheena’s joy knew no bounds that day. 















We visited Marie once again after a few months and Marie enjoyed giving Farheena, who now a bit longer hair, a great look once again. All the time when Marie was working with Farheena’s hair, she was telling us about the Locks of Love, which is non-profit charity organization in USA. Locks of love accepts donations of human hair to make wigs for needy children who have lost their hair due to some medical condition.

Farheena is a spontaneous person and once she makes her spontaneous decision she is kind of ‘Salman Khan’ person from the film Wanted. She herself cannot change the decision because it is already done and is in the past. Farheena told me that she would love to donate her hair to locks of love that day, there and then. Paula tried to dissuade her but nothing worked. We needed the minimum of 10 inches hair in a pony tail for the locks of love. That would make her hair real short cropped. I was hesitant with that. Shoulder length was fine but up to the ears did not go down easily with me. But then Farheena being Farheena, insisted and had her way. It was a proud moment for all of us (Paula, Marie, Me, Rayyan and Farheena). She looked prettier and cute with her hair cut short. I could sense she missed her long hair but she knew that they would soon grow back again.  

Having gone bald and yearning for hair during my chemotherapy, I really felt good deep inside me that my daughter had the noble heart to donate her loving hair for the Locks of Love. It was another ‘WOW’ hair moment of our lives.

The rest of her days in USA were spent with short hair. Paula would tell many of her friends how Farheena donated the long black locks to a good cause. Her hair grew fast and was shoulder length in few months and now the amazing hair is quite long, touching the ground when she sits. I wonder how much more it is going to grow.

Her lovely tresses open up and flow like silk all over her back. After a bath, when she sits under the fan for drying it up; it starts opening up and straightening itself so well, that I find it amusing just sitting there watching them. All I need to do is run a brush through it thoroughly after a while and plait it up. It has a good shine and is so smooth to touch. The pictures below will make you believe me!

Farheena has the most beautiful hair I have ever seen and a heart that surpasses the beauty of her hair. I got to know about it when Locks of Love won the battle with her Love for Locks.

Wet after bath 

Beginning to dry

Continuing opening up and drying

I love her tresses so much!

A bit of brushing and  we have a nice shiny plait 

The Story of the Prodigal Hair…

The hair that grew back after chemotherapy

With the launch of the new Dove Nourishing Oil Care Range, Dove and IndiBlogger decided to present the “Love your Hair and it loves you back” blogger contest. Wow! What amazing attractive prizes to win!

With the announcement of the contest I started thinking about my hair and it reminded me the story of the prodigal son. My hair was there on my head, thick and strong, always, since the time I can remember. I never bothered to care or nourish it ever. The time my Mom spent removing the knots, oiling it and combing it neatly was spent by me reading a book. My only contribution for the whole process was the whimper I would let out when I felt a tug on my hair............ before continuing with my book. My mom took good care of our hair by oiling it with pure coconut oil and washing it cleanly with warm water. She did not trust us with our hair care until we were quite grown up.
 For me, the hair was of not much importance at all. I never suffered from hair fall or dandruff, so I think that means my Mom loved the hair it loved me back making it kind of three street affair. I had no time to love it. I was always busy with books, games or being naughty. The two plaits hanging on my shoulders never got any love or attention from me.

 My hair has very much similarity to the parable of “The Prodigal Son”. I studied in a convent. Some of the lovely memories of those times are the moral stories we would come across during our moral science period. I could never empathize with one of the characters back then. It was the father in the parable of ‘The Prodigal Son’. I sympathized with the elder brother who had served his father so well, but sadly his goodness was never observed, which is well expressed in his own words, "Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes; you killed the fattened calf for him." When the father explained to him how the joys of having found someone you have lost calls for celebration, I felt anger surging in my heart. I loved narrating stories and parables to my son, but, this one was always left out; as I felt what the father had done, was absolutely wrong. He should appreciate his good son more and express his appreciation to him.

I cannot say I have totally changed my mind now,but somehow I can understand the joy the father felt when the son returned to him. The change came with the treatment for breast cancer which involved chemotherapy. I did not pay much attention to the part of hair loss which would accompany the treatment, because my concern at that moment - for the surgery, my physical changes, death, and above all my children,, had pushed the impending hair loss to the back of my mind. It was only after the second cycle of chemotherapy, when one fine day my hair decided to give me a scare by coming out in bunches as I tried combing my it, did I realize that I would go bald for at least few months and had to deal with it. By the time I finished brushing my hair, my lap was filled with enough strands to make a wig.  Filled sadness and bitterness, I was totally confused and I did not know what to do with it. I calmly dug a hole and buried the hair. My sense of humour was missing that day. I did not have enough information or coolness to donate it to making a wig which my daughter did after 12 years. I had half hair still left on my head but I knew that in no time they are going to come out and soon I will have to deal with total hair loss bravely.  I could have shaved all of it and spared the trouble of having them fall down all over me, but back then, not being familiar with chemotherapy, side effects and a young foolish woman, I lovingly held on to the whatever strands were left on my head until one fine day they said goodbye to my scalp and left it bare. It scared my kids to see their Maa with bald head. More than fear it was the concerned and worried looks they gave me which wrung my heart. If I were smart I could have shaved off their tiny heads with mine and had fun with a good bold and bald family, unfortunately I was not cancer smart back then.

Days went by and I slowly got adapted to the bald head. I used to feel kind of cold and light headed earlier but slowly it started to feel normal to be bald. People would give me stares and ask questions at times. Someone offered me flowers to wear on my head as a joke. Some predicted that my hair would never grow back. Someone used my head as a band to beat on it rhythmically. I hurt inside but did not show it outwards. It was no time for fun for me. I was fighting a rough battle for my life and all these people could see was the joke on my bald head. Aaahhh! How boring life would be without such people around us (Sarcasm).
Unknowingly I developed a habit of running my hand over my bald head and loved the smooth feeling of it LOL. One fine day I felt something rough on my head as though it was having a bad rash, which worried me. But to my pleasant surprise I saw there was some hair sprouting on my head. This is something I would say the ‘WOW’ hair moment of my life.

My hair turned up more curly and short after my Chemotherapy. It was not the same type of hair I had earlier. I love my new hair. Although I have learnt my lesson and realized that I am same person even with the bald head…….. not everyone is smart enough to know it.  So my hair deserves love, care and pampering.

I am quite excited with the launch of Dove’s products of New Dove Nourishing Oil Care, because, I can now treat my prodigal hair with the love and care it deserves. There is no need for my Hair to feel rough and dry after a hair wash, because ordinary shampoos will not be allowed to strip my hair of its natural oils hereafter. New Dove Nourishing Oil Care Shampoo which is enhanced with Vita-Oils will go deep inside my hair fiber and help lock in the nourishment of oil; making my prodigal hair smooth, shiny and beautiful with every wash. 

On the tough hair days or when I am exposed to sunrays or wind, the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Shampoo with Fiber Actives and Vita-Oils give Vitamin enriched nourishment will make my hair resilient to damage.

I will not have to fear rough hair anymore because dove has taken care to fight Dryness is the very first sign of damage, which makes my hair, look dull and feel rough. I am going treat my hair with Dove Nourishing Oil Care Daily Treatment Conditioner that has the power of double nourishment which will restore my hair's smoothness and softness.

My hair has got used to oiling because my mom used to oil it regularly. I am used to leaving the oil in my hair overnight which doesn’t bother me at all. I am very excited to try the Dove Nourishing Oil Care Vita Oil Serum which has Vita- Oils to replenish my hair with essential oils.

Dove also has Nourishing Oil Care Repair Mask to nourish the hair from deep inside and effectively repair the damaged hair.

I think it is time for celebration all over again and have the ‘Wow’ hair moment once again in my life with Dove Nourishing Oil Care Range of products.
                                           

Visit the dove page to know more about hair care ->

 

My fuzzy hair

This blog is a written for the

Love is a two way street: Love your hair and it loves you back!

contest on Indiblogger.

                                         

The Changing Styles of My Teens and My Growing Wishlist.

 My daughter who is crazy for purses, sandals and sunglasses has been going gaga (not lady ) over the online shopping sites. I have seen this happen before. Online window shopping is not safe when you have teens in the home. It can weigh very heavy on your purse. It has happened with three of such sites earlier for me. 

My Kids were not very high on fashion until they spent 5 months in USA. After Rayyan got introduced to brands such as Armani, True Religion, Levis, Lee, Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein, he is not willing to settle down for clothes of lesser God. His arithmetic works in a weird way. Instead of buying 10 cheap jeans or other things he will go for one good branded one which is going to last him ten times more, eventually making it cost him the same. He says the branded jeans and clothes give his skin a special touch which makes him feel very comfortable, as though they are an extension of his skin itself. He says it is the same with shoes, and for a boy who cycles and walks miles, I feel I have to give the best. He is 20 but has never spent money personally on petrol or diesel at all. He loves his Bi-cycle and if not loves walking.My daughter also progressed from being a shy, simple girl into some kind of Diva with new hairstyles and dressing sense. 
The Pictures themselves tell about the transformation so well.. especially it has got something to do with their expressions... LOL

 

He looks so innocent in those pics 

                        
                                                Is he the same boy? Huh!






              Here is the change taking place ;)

                 




                                                                             

                                                                                                                        


     
                                   


Unknowingly the wish list for me has been made and it keeps growing as I surf for the products. 

CK jeans is a must for every youngster and so it is for Rayyan

        

                                  

                                                      

                                  

   

  

                                                                                                                              

Come back time!!!!!!!

Being Scared

I think it is time for me to stop mourning and moaning over what is happening in my life and move on. Moving on with life means getting back to blogging and surfing net included. ;) after a gap of 58 days. Withdrawals? YES! I had left few scheduled posts, but haven't been here since 22nd August. 

 I have been offline most of the time due to many reasons; one of them being the upset I have gone through because of the improper evaluation of my English papers. I had done excellent in my English Optional and English language papers and expected 75% - 80% marks minimum especially in English literature, which I consider to be one of the best papers I have ever written (other than few maths papers ;) ).  I had written annotations and answers in a perfect way; as guided by the professors from KSOU, made references to quotations from text books and in addition I also checked the answers after returning from my exams and found them to be perfect. Studying is my major passion and I have to deal with lot of opposition to move ahead with my studies. It means a lot to me.  My marks were 56% in English Language and 60% in English Optional which was disappointing considering the way I had attempted the paper; whereas I could score 73% in Kannada which is a language I have been out of touch with through proper effort. Therefore after consulting my study center, I opted for revaluation of my papers in psychology, English language and English optional as I was very confident of acquiring better result through proper evaluation of my papers. To my utter shock the revaluation further reduced my marks and gave me only 44 and 41 percent respectively in English language and English optional subjects. My psychology marks have remained same, which was another paper which I felt I deserved more marks but got only 69%. My other papers have been satisfactory and my aggregate is good enough to get me a rank. I tried getting in touch with the registrars of evaluations, but they said there is no provision for further checking and I have to accept the results. If the difference was something around 15 marks it would have been easier to accept the results and let it go, but I am sure there has been a mistake of huge margin of at least 50% for the two subjects, which is a great setback for me. I was looking forward to score a rank and this blunder has thrown a wet blanket on my hopes.

I am pursuing studies with the aim of completing PhD either in English or Psychology.    At 44 I have taken up the challenge of continuing with my passion of seeking knowledge through higher education, after having relented to parental and communal pressure and given up studies twenty five years ago; even though I was topper in my class back then.  KSOU showed me the golden opportunity of pursuing my studies without having to compromise on the care and attention deserved by my special needs daughter. I have worked hard for two years, gone through lots of hurdles thrown in my way to learn my lessons thoroughly, to read and acquire knowledge not only for the purpose of writing exams but also to learn and use the knowledge of the subject in my life and profession. It has not been easy to sit and concentrate on studies when I have duties as mother, homemaker and wife beckoning me.  I feel it is not be fair for a mistake conducted by the evaluator to steal what I truly deserve but then feelings do not count much. It is sort of breaking my faith in education and I may not be able to pursue my next year’s exams with enthusiasm, knowing the same blunder may occur again.

I cannot even order for a Xerox copy now after evaluation. I at least deserve to see why my marks have been further cut by the re-evaluator but even that is not possible for now. OK!

This is just the visible part of iceberg. There is a lot more under the water but this will be enough for the beginning. Anyway I am glad to back on blogging sphere.. look out for me.

On the bright side of life, I felt great about winning a laptop because I loved writing about Intel Appups. I believe multi-media is a great way to learn.