Amazingly Grey

As we age, so does our hair. While some people use colour and henna to mask the signs of decreasing melanin, there are others who wear their silver crowns in all their glory. And interestingly, this makes for a great style statement. For women, who started showing their greys and are struggling to keep them under wraps, this could be a refreshing trend that showcases their natural beauty or look.

42-year-old Vyshnavi Kuppuswamy Sundararajan was working in Hyderabad, currently in Dubai. She started greying when she was 18 or 19 years old. But stopped colouring her hair since the past 15 years. “The fact is that I was fed up of colouring my hair for over 15 years and really wanting to embrace my originality rather than live under the garb of the colour. And of course, laziness of having to colour every two weeks to keep my greys hidden too is the reason!”

“When a man greys it’s a silver lining or he looks intelligent, but when a lady greys, she old, ugly and not acceptable to society. And so, to flow with societal norms, she chooses to colour. Like there is widespread acceptance of any skin colour; growing grey will also be accepted without body shaming soon, I hope. Just like there is awareness about fairness creams and the damage they cause, there must be increased awareness around damage caused by hair colour,” she adds.

Amita Desai, a resident of Hyderabad, and executive director at Goethe Zentrum shares her view in this context. ‘One doesn’t flaunt grey hair, but one has grey hair which is part of you. I can’t remember when my hair began to turn grey. I am not very young, but I had them for a while. It is me. I never had the desire to colour my hair. I am a bit of environmentalist and so, I think it is alright to have grey hair. Wrinkles and grey hair is part of growing.

I happy that nature is doing its course and there is hair that’s more important than not having any. I think it;s terrible to have the pressure to look young, I think there was a time to put on act to be somebody. White hair has never bothered me they have come when they have to. They did not take away from me what I am. I am 58.’

For years, grey hair has been the default setting for calling someone “aunty” or “uncle” – basically a sign of ageing. Photographer Amita Talwar from Hyderabad, who has decided to go grey, says, “I am going to be 65 this July. I don’t believe in colouring my hair, there is no need to hide my age. I think it’s natural and there is no need to go against the nature. It depends on one’s perspective and whatever you are comfortable with that suits you.

Many of us are looking at grey hair, not as a sign of aging, but as a symbol of all their accomplishments. Your hair represents years of hard work, good times, and countless life experiences. It is not a weakness, but rather a sign of strength that you got to the point where you are able to see your grey hair!

Kinnera Murthy, a strategy consultant, who also works in social sector says, ‘It’s a personal choice I feel. There are a lot of women who colour their hair and some who do not. It is not a new trend. For me, it keeps changing. For 10 years I didn’t dye my hair after and then I grew it and coloured it. It is just my mood and I feel more comfortable with my choice. Since 2016 I started to keep it grey and before that it was a mix of black and white.

Going grey is a trend also catching up with more awareness towards healthy and organic way of living and the same is also being endorsed by a few celebrities like Renuka Sahahane and Ratna Pathak as a new way of looking at breaking stereotypes.