Anjana (widely known as @SparklingSilvers in Instagram Silver Community) sharing her story of going gray in her 30th.
Anjana Dubey, like other gray hair sisters, had quite an experience when transitioning to her gray hair. This 37-year-old mother discovered her gray hairs when she was 12 years old. And she was terrified.
“Premature greying can be a very painful thing for a 12-year-old child. I was like 'why me?', 'Is something wrong with me?' as you keep on comparing yourself to other kids around you....”
Having gray hair made her feel inferior and constantly having feelings of lacking something. She started plucking out her gray strands and then covering them with henna and eventually switched to a hair dye.
It was at the age of 36 that Anjana decided to put down the hair color and let her gray hair grow. She felt like the time had come to embrace the gray hair. It was time to find out what was beneath all the hair color.
Anjana was curious to find out how her grays will grow out and look. Coloring her hair had also become so expensive as she needed constant touch-ups. She now felt like she could use the money for other things and now embrace who she really is.
“Once I made up my mind to give up coloring, I started looking for inspiration online. It gave me a lot of courage and the kick to go for it. I knew it was going to be a bit difficult but I decided to go for it and was ready for every situation coming my way. I was ready for all so it made things easy for me... I never tried hiding the growth of hair showing the silvers as I wanted the people around me to know that yes! I am going grey on purpose and it's not a mistake…”
Never did she feel like giving up. Anjana already knew the road to transition would not be a smooth one. So she was mentally prepared to face the worst. This attitude helped her weather all the storms during her transition.
During her transition, Anjana received a lot of support from her husband.
“My very first support and encouragement was my husband, it wouldn't have been easy without his help. My daughter is just a 6 years old innocent girl. She admires the grey color of my hair and as I look. Many times I hear her say, “Mumma I want to get my hair colored like yours, it's different".
“The biggest challenge is to feel good about yourself and keep a positive attitude during this journey. Self-acceptance eases all... I definitely had few ups and downs but nothing bothered me much as I knew it's a part of the journey.”
Her confidence and courage during her transition is something to admire.
Anjana’s transition journey wasn’t smooth:
“I gave two attempts to ditch the dye. First I started it in April 2018, grew out for about three months and the again colored my hair in June 2018. Then after two months I again stopped coloring in August 2018, this time I got things planned. I decided to grow my hair to a length appropriate for a pixie cut, that I achieved in about 3.5 months, then I got it chopped. It was kinda two transitions at a time but I loved the cut, and who cares what people think of that…”
She knew that people would definitely react differently to her transition “…people will definitely react as you are about to do something that is against the society's norms or not acceptable with love”. As she transitioned, she received a lot of mixed reactions. Most of which were positive.
Anjana about the gray hair stereotypes. “The most common of them all is “hide your greys" especially if you are a woman. No one is gonna question a man "why are you going grey?" Or suggest "You must dye your hair" but as soon as they see a few silver strands on her head she is suggested to color them. And according to my own experience going grey at 'young' age is not acceptable as they say "this is not the age, go color your hair".
Anjana runs a blog called Sparkling Silvers. The blog is all about inspiring gray hair sisters and encouraging those starting the journey. She says that when she started her journey, there were not many young people with gray hair to look up to. So she wants to be there for young gray-haired ladies. Something she did not have when she was transitioning.
“…I think at a younger age you need more encouragement and support than a matured person…”
It has been one year now since Anjana decided to transition to gray hair. She says that the transition has made her feel free and embrace who she is. When she walks with her head held high, others can feel her confidence and admire her.