Today I visited a hair studio at Dona Paul after school, in the evening. My schoolwork was over by 4.30pm so I went directly to the hair studio since I had no other work to do. I reached one hour early at 5.00 pm., however I had an appointment at 6.00pm. I checked with reception about my appointment and told the receptionist that I was one hour early. She smiled and told me that the head stylist would finish with the current customer in a few minutes, and she told me to sit and asked whether I would like to have tea or coffee. I witnessed for the first time that a hair studio even offers this to their customers. I found it welcoming.
The head stylist finished with the earlier customer half an hour early and he attended me. He told me that I have beautiful curly virgin hair. First of all, I did not understand why he was calling my hair virgin hair. Later, after further interaction with him I understood that virgin hair means natural hair without any chemical treatments. My hair was frizzy, dry and damaged and for that reason I had booked for the hair consultation and haircut. I told him that I had stopped using oil because I cannot go to work with oily hair and this is why my hair got more damaged, dry and frizzy. I also told him that I had stopped using the conditioner because of hair whitening and hair fall. He checked my hair and told me not to worry. He said he will teach me how to take care of my beautiful curls. While having hair treatment and hair wash, he told me about each step and appreciated my curly hair. After that he did my hair cut and styling without cutting too much of my hair.
Whenever I visited any beauty parlor earlier for my haircuts, most of those ladies had also asked me, why is your hair so dry and frizzy? Looks like you never take care of your hair? Some people in the village do not know what conditioner is, these people do not take care of their hair and then come to us for haircuts which are so difficult for us to comb and then cut. These ladies’ kind of mostly taunted and tortured me, insulted me with their words and made me feel ashamed about my curly hair. They even kept on cutting my hair and made it too short. It’s a stereotype that many people think that curly hair means a disorganized and a messy person and the person who has straightened their hair means a well-groomed and a civilized person.
The head stylist Mr. Kasim from Dona Paula hair studio appreciated my curly hair and made me embrace my beautiful curly hair by motivating me. There are many people who are just ready to criticize and demotivate you out there. But people like Mr. Kasim just motivate others, make a difference in their lives by making them embrace their true self and enhance their beauty.
While I was on my way back home, I was thinking about Mr. Kasims kind gesture. I just realized that we follow a similar philosophy in our Sunshine Worldwide school. Instead of criticizing a learner for not having a particular skill or a talent, we help them develop it and we educators believe in them. Even if an educator lacks some skills which are required for current teaching-learning practices then our school makes sure that our educators are well equipped with good training to enhance and update their skills and talents.
Thank You
-Bhagyajyoti Arjun Naik
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