Irrefutably, Movember aka the NO SHAVE NOVEMBER has caught up in namma city with gusto. But this time around, it’s not just the boys who are prepping up to be a part of the popular men’s cancer awareness initiative that embraces wild and unruly hair growth – volleys of Bengalurean women are also taking the onus of spreading the message through thoughtful acts! We chat up with a zesty bunch of city lasses, who tell us about how they’re playing their part in redefining the popular initiative…
“A friend asked me how much I spend for a monthly haircut. That’s when I realised that, with November on, I could actually show I care by contributing to the #noshave november cancer awareness cause in a different yet feasible manner, " reveals Meghana Guru, a 23-year-old management trainee who started out with a #noparlour#noshave initiative through her Facebook profile.
Interestingly, despite the whole idea being centered on prostrate cancer, she feels women too can show they care. “So, the point I want to put across is that one must embrace one’s hair growth – Let it grow and donate your monthly trimming costs to fight the good fight. At the end of the day, I want more women to think about it,”she says.
While it’s campaign galore for a few, it’s about donation for the other bunch. for Anagha Balakrishna, a 23-year-old content manager and singer, it was about donating 12 inches of her hair to an NGO that works for the cause “I lost one of my uncles to cancer. Ever since, I’ve always wanted to do something around the concept. To me, the idea was a lot more than just letting a stylist cut chop out your precious locks to show my support for a cause. Knowing the pain that cancer patients undergo during their treatment, this is just one way of supporting them,” she says.
It was a heart warming incident that inspired Rishuta Karthikeya to take to the idea. “My granddad was diagnosed with colon cancer in May 2015. I would accompany him to the cancer care unit at Manipal hospital. During one such visit, I overhead a child telling her mum that she wanted hair like mine. And the mum pacified the kid by saying that get her a wig. That’s when it struck me that a regular trimming could make so much of a difference to those in the need. Going ahead and cutting your hair to donate is life-altering for somebody else.” Though she’s chopped off over 14 inches this month, Anagha is raring to go for more.
