I have been playing around with my hair since my teens, so boring not to that’s what it’s there for. The first time I got my highlights way back in the 90s my mum sniffed at it and was perplexed as to why I would want to look like a poor field worker. It took a while for me to figure that one out!
After a few years with dark hair last year I went back to being a blondie (highlights) and it got quite an interesting reception in my recent trip to Delhi. I forgot how insignificant and normal bleached hair is in the UK but how loaded with connotations it could be in India where it is still a little unusual.
For example, I was asked by a very good friend in Delhi, and several times by other people, if I was suffering from an identity crisis. This friend has known me for several years and I always met her dressed in jeans or leggings with dresses, always without a scarf and usually with wild hair that looked like it needed a brush but none of this was noticed or provoked a comment, only my blonde hair did.
I certainly am not suffering from an identity crisis but I also didn’t think that for some people identity was such a fragile concept or a literal one. I also felt like I was taken less seriously by people I had worked with on previous occasions because of my hair and people spoke about me while I was standing assuming I wouldn’t be able to understand Hindi. Going back to a previous post on the blog Nice Tan Lines, why is it okay to bleach skin but not hair?
I don’t consider my hair colour as being integral to my identity and treat it as superficially as I would eye shadow or nail varnish. Now, I have the dip dye/ holiday hair look with dark roots and blonde tips and I wonder if someone will ask me if I can’t afford to get my hair done…or if I really am a poor field worker.
Bubbly
The Chatterjis Blog 
Leave a Reply