Silver Lining in the Crown

When parking attendants call out: 8216;8216;Budhiya ki gaadi nikalo8217;8217;, 47-year-old Ela Loomba is least affected. She faces these...

When parking attendants call out: 8216;8216;Budhiya ki gaadi nikalo8217;8217;, 47-year-old Ela Loomba is least affected. She faces these comments all the time. Loomba, who works as an assistant with Francis Wacziarg of the heritage Neemrana Hotels chain, has never coloured her thick mane. 8216;8216;I8217;ve been called budhiya, amma and so on and so forth, but am quite comfortable with my grey hair.8217;8217;

Loomba8217;s not alone in her decision to stay grey. The new realisation is that grey looks good. It8217;s no longer just a father8217;s blessing. Women make a personality statement by remaining grey. 8216;8216;I don8217;t colour my hair to cover up grey. Whether I want to cut my hair, go bald or colour it blue, it8217;s entirely my prerogative. It8217;s about the attitude I want to convey. But trying to conceal age is an entirely different issue8212;one is led to believe that youth is the only enjoyable time of your life and I don8217;t subscribe to this view,8217;8217; says 36-year-old Mumbai installation and video artist Sharmila Samant.

8216;8216;I feel much more comfortable just being the way I am and grey hair is a part of me. Besides, you can8217;t fool the world all the time,8217;8217; says 51-year-old Aruna Harprasad, a film-maker with KAS Moviemakers in Delhi. Also disagreeing with the rest of colour conscious Indian society is Anu Bakshi, who runs Project Why for slum children in Delhi. According to her, more than one8217;s 8216;black8217; hair, it8217;s being fit and slim that makes a person look and feel younger. At least this seems to have worked for Harprasad who, with her short crop and the trademark intricate bindis, looks much younger than her 51 years.

For most of these women, one great side-effect of avoiding hair hues is that ounce of extra bounce. 8216;8216;The chemicals completely destroy the sheen and strength of hair,8217;8217; says Loomba.

Nafisa Ali is just one famous name amongst many who flaunt their grey strands. No, we are not talking only about social workers and feminists. Like Loomba, 45-year-old Anu Kapoor has suffered people8217;s taunts since she started greying in her 20s. 8216;8216;People call me aunty all the time and I chew them up,8217;8217; says Kapoor, an executive editor with a travel magazine. Kapoor8217;s mother initially bullied her into colouring her hair,8216;8216;because she thought she looked really old with a daughter who had grey hair.8217;8217;

Film-maker Vani Subramanian never really cared to figure out why she likes to have grey hair. 8216;8216;It8217;s not an issue with me. All I know is it8217;s just one of those many small things that make me complete as a woman,8217;8217; says 38-year-old Subramanian. On the other hand, for a rapidly greying Namrata Jain, a 35-year-old managerial consultant, the reasons were quite different. 8216;8216;Everyone looks the same in the corporate world, but my grey hair set me apart. Now whenever I8217;m in a meeting, people always steal a look at me,8217;8217; says Jain.

All these women may have their personal reasons and justifications for staying grey, but the common thread is confidence to be what they want to be. And if there are more perks, no one8217;s complaining. As Harprasad points out: 8216;8216;Life doesn8217;t get better than this, when younger men compliment us on how nice our hair looks.8217;8217;