I am almost completely bald. When I am asked the reason for my clean pate, I narrate this story. There was a time when the flock of hair on my head was the envy of many. A decade ago one night God appeared in my dreams. He said “Vish, It is time”. I was aghast. I pleaded “God, I am young with two children yet to find their feet in this difficult world. Give me a few more years.” God assured me that it was not my life he wanted. He continued “Vish, your head has become too heavy for your shoulders. So, I give you the option; you can have what is either inside or on the outside.” That is it; since then I have lost most of the hair on my head.
On a recent holiday by the sea I was pictured hugging the waves covering my head with my kerchief. A friend asked me why I did that. I then realised it was an unconscious effort to cover my bald pate and assume I looked younger.
Over centuries people wore headgear for various purposes. The army has worn it as part of the uniform dress code. A helmet is worn for protection. Among the other many reasons is just vanity. Some times the head is required to be covered inside a place of worship. While in the North the ladies necessarily have to cover their hair inside a temple, in South India it is considered sacrilegious.
How important is a headdress? I for one did never gave it any thought but wore it occasionally as required. But these days headgear and head scarf are international headlines. It seems Barack Obama, the President of the USA, during his imminent sojourn in India will not visit Amritsar contrary to an original plan. Having to cover his head while visiting a place of worship has been cited, in some circles, as a reason, for the skip. A frivolous reason one would have thought. Surely, Obama has worn different headgear on various occasions before. Why not once more?
Well it seems he has a problem. The report is that 10 to 30% (varying reports) of resident Americans in the USA think Obama is not Obama. Not surprising I would say. A decade or so ago there was a report that a newly elected President of the USA, thought that Pakistan and India were involved in a civil war, a la America in the nineteenth century. So it is par for the course in the USA, if a few Americans think that Obama is or will become somebody else (sans beard) if he wore a headdress. No headgear for the President - what with elections to the Senate just around the corner.
Can I believe this to be just a ridiculous game being played by Obama’s detractors? What if he wears a head dress of a native Indian chief or a bolero hat? His predecessor George B. surely would have worn the Texan hat.
I guess Indian polity is after all on the ascent.
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