After a long tiring hot day in the campus, I hurried into an
auto agreeing to pay the driver twenty rupees more than the fare. What! It was
a hot evening in Delhi and I hadn’t got an auto for about an hour. Today I had
a BIG reason to return back home soon. Dadijee had come home this morning from
Kolkata. I wait for this time all year, when she comes to Delhi and spends a
few days with us. She pampers me with Bengali food, sweets and loads and loads
of love.
Of all the things I missed, I miss her head massages. So the
moment I reached home, I quickly freshened up and made some tea while she was
enjoying her evening siesta. I woke her up and hugged her tightly. We spoke of
endlessly for hours, and by the end of it I pressed my head, it had been a very
tiring day. Plus, it was a sign for her to do the needful
Yes! I am a naughty kid!
But I have more feathers in my hat, you see!
She raised her eyebrow and asked me to sit in front of her.
I did what was told to me, like an obedient kid. She started pressing her
fingers on my head, and started off “ You girls nowadays don’t understand how
to maintain yourselves. Aamader somoy( During our times), we paid much
attention to all this. You may be modern and you all roam through the dirt of
this city. Ah! Those lovely tresses and how we took so much care! But you, you brats think you know everything kintu (but)even we are
literate and modern, kicchu bujhli
(do you understand)? She started moving her fingers into my hair and stopped
speaking. She kept meandering her fingers and exclaimed- Baah! Ki norom chool Mamoni! (Wow! What soft hair, Mamoni!)
I smiled and showed her the Dove Hair-split test. I took my
hair ends into a bunch and brushed them onto her soft cheeks. I adore her skin!
She has such glowing skin and she never tells me her secret. Anyway, I asked
her if the ends felt rough on her skin. She nodded in denial. In fact, she let out a laugh
and exclaimed, “Aaahhaa! Shushshuri Laage( it tickles)!
They say films are inspired from real-life stories. But then
there are these little moments, that fill up your heart with so much happiness
that you wonder if this is for real or are you fantasizing about a story you’ve
seen in the idiot box! Dadijee nudged me
again and I heard a ‘dhoom tananana..dhooomm tananananaa…. ‘ tune and I could
not believe this was happening for real!
She nudged me again, placing her palms on the either sides
of my head and pressing it a little harder. She said, “Bol na, ki kore raakhish chul guli eto shundor, ki secret aamye o bol?”
(Tell me how you manage to keep your hair so healthy?) I smiled, her innocence
at this age, was a beautiful expression to witness. I told her that I’d tell
her the secret only after she’d start braiding my hair, just the way she does
for Mum. She smiled back and divided my hair into three equal parts with two easy
strokes of my hair-brush. Then she got carried off in the process of making a
braid- separating every division and turning them one over the other into
serpentine curves, thus forming a rope-like series and she tied a rubber-band
at the end of it, tightly. I loved it. No, not just having grandma tie my hair
every night, but also to see my sister, Pari look at me enviously… she has a
mushroom cut, you see!
Dadijee, like an excited little kid asked me to reveal the
secret. I ran to my room and showed her my secret. A milk-white colored purse,
zipped shut. I told her to open the purse afterwards. Soon, it was time to
sleep and we went to our respective rooms- all lights were switched off; except
hers. She opened the purse to find a bottle of Dove Shampoo and a conditioner
with a little colorful piece of paper. She plucked it out of the purse and read
what was scribbled into it-
Dove is what my Dadijee had used for my hair and body ever since
I was a little baby. Twenty years and several inches later, I don’t think much
has changed. The 1/4th moisturizing milk in the shampoo is a
blessing, considering I live in a city like Delhi-polluted, populated and
tiring. With so much stress in my head, Dove saves my hair like a protective
wear. I wish someday soon, the researchers produce something for what lies
inside the head too.
Anyway, the next morning Dadijee
woke me up and I lazily brushed my teeth and hung my head on the dining table,
rest of the body swaying along its weight. She had a tin pack in her hands and
a big smile on her face. “Here”, she said “this is the secret of my glowing
skin.” I jumped out of my chair and took the tin pack from her. Nothing was
written on the green-colored tin box. I gave her a puzzled look and she told me
to open the box. “Maida and Oil!!”, I shrieked. “Yes, every day before going to
bathe, apply the paste all over your body and rinse till dry. What comes off,
are the dead cells, and body hair. Keeps the skin hydrated and leaves a glow. Now
hurry, go apply it and off to bathe! You’ll be late for your college Shonamuni! She grins like a naughty kid and goes
inside the temple and coyly sings, “Shona Gopal, Chaa Khaao! Chaa Khaao, shona!” (She began calling out Lord Gopal's name, pampering him and cajoling him, asking him to drink tea!). I with a grimacing face, walk into the bathroom.
This was my "Beautiful Ends to your Braids" Story! What's Yours?
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