By Vedanshi Bhatia:
Hair – is it really a topic to talk about? Well, it has been on my mind for a very long time. I hate waxing and getting my upper lips done. I started using hair removal creams and razors way back just to save myself from the pain of waxing and threading, and at times I have gone for weeks without removing them. It sucks! My mother keeps on telling me to do my upper lips at least. She has to run behind me in the house to make me do it. I run around for days till she succeeds. I tell her, “It’s not a big deal. What’s the problem? It’s just hair.”
I try playing the feminist hippie card, but in reality I’m equally grossed out by them. I hide around when covered in thickness of my hair. One night, I was chatting with a guy that I really like, and I was sitting with a shawl as it was freezing outside and I had a gateway to cover my face with a shawl. So very smoothly I sat, had a really beautiful conversation but most of the time my attention was fixated on facial hair. Instead of enjoying the conversation, my concentration was on covering my face in a ‘cute’ way so that those whiskers won’t show and make me look gross.
The guy wasn’t shallow. I knew he wouldn’t give a damn about the hair. I was fully aware of this. He was only focused on me and the conversation we were having. But in the back of my mind I was too conscious of the fact that there was hair on my upper lips screaming to be threaded out.
It turns out I find facial hair more ugly than the people around me. When I returned to my room, I went to the mirror and looked at myself and stared at the hair. I again asked myself, “Do I look ugly?” The answer was still affirmative. I again saw my reflection, stared more and asked, “Is it really that much of a big deal? Am I not beautiful?” “Yes, you are but you have got to trim that hair sweetie.” With a firm ‘no’ as a response I realised that it’s not only about the pain, it’s also about me being so superficial.
Popular knowledge says that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Let’s double it to 42. I go around pitching ‘self-love is the best love’, should I not be the one who must believe in it as well? So I came up with an idea and decided to try it out. After hours of contemplating I figured that if men can do, ‘no-shave November’, I’ll do ‘no-thread December’ and try to love and accept myself the way that I am. Will I be able to see beauty in myself or will I be too nervous and feel inferior because of my looks? I don’t know but I’m willing to give it a try.
Anyone who is willing to join in can pledge ‘no-thread for 42’.
So today I don’t know how many days it has already been since I have used the thread on me. But I pledge to try and love myself and feel confident with my natural hair. And not cover my mustache.
