Pooja Warier Hamilton
Founding Partner and Executive Director, Conduit Capital
Age : 38
Samina Mishra
Film Maker, Writer and Teacher of Film at Pathways School Noida
Age: 50
Photo Credits : Apal
Aditi Misra
Director Principal, DPS Gurgaon
Age : 58
Shabnam Narula
Skilled goldsmith, Brand – Shabnam Gitanjali
Age: 59
From school time, I would be regular with oil regime which was a cocktail of sorts and probably was amongst the first to use henna for conditioning and that exotic colour. This was a ritual till I turned 40, though now of course it was more to hide my greys! Transition was ghastly, so I switched to L’Oréal. A wrong decision, because it accelerated the grey for sure and I started graying much faster, alas there was no going back. When I turned 51, I got highlights that made my hair color lighter, a process that I thought would help me transition gently. My vanity held on, cause I would still require to touch up my roots, only this time with lighter hair color.
When I was 57, I took up a programme in sustainable living and moved to Bangalore . Alas tad late in life, I realised the perils of chemicals in our lives. Chemicals in our food( through fertilisers, pesticides, GMO and hybrid vegetables), dyes in our detergents,clothes and and cosmetics. Being in a new place with new people and chemical free zone, and practically no mirror to look at, helped the transition. I couldn’t care how I looked and no one commented! finally it was not important anymore! I never felt so free in my life.. New friends and associates never once passed any judgement or comments on my looks. I dropped all pretenses. It surely wasn’t easy as it was more inner than outer!
My new look had different reactions! From bechari to wow!! Yes it’s added more years, and the compliments of looking much younger stopped, it got replaced by admiration of courage.. I continue to colour, but it’s once in 3-4 months and that too with very little colour, almost 1/4 th of what I used at a time earlier ( I comb my hair with hair colour, making sure to have the salt/ pepper/ blonde look intact). My friends bother me sometimes, but I brush it aside, literally! I am currently looking for a good hair style, which is fuss free, till then I hold on to my mane and a bit of my vanity.