To shave my daughter's head (" Javal/ Mundan" ceremony)

I am a Maharashtrian woman born and brought up in North India and married to a Maharashtrain family from Marathwada area of Maharashtra. Obviously, there is a difference in the traditions.

One very widely followed Indian tradition is shaving off the baby's head also termed as "javal" in Marathi and "mundan" in Hindi. It is believed that hair growth improves a lot after shaving off baby's head. In some traditional Indian brahmin families this javal ceremony isn't performed for girls. So is my family. But I belonged to a family who believed this myth religiously. So I was in a kind of dilemma. I didn't want to slip off her age before arriving at any decision.

When my daughter was born, she had moderate hair on head. And as she was growing ... I could see very uneven growth of hair which were also thin. I wanted to try the shaving option if it really made a difference I didn't want to slip off her age. I searched a lot on the net for any scientific reason behind the myth but for my disappointment none of the web pages supported it for any scientific reasons. But there were thousands of examples in India illustrating its success. One more fact that was making our decision negative was a rare example; my friend. She told me that she was bald when she was born and with the same fear her mother didn't shave her head. But today when we see her she has really long thick and really strong hair.

But when I thought over and over, I observed that all young boys get thicker and denser hair growth on their cheek only after they shave it off the first time. Till then it is soft, thin and very less. This logic clicked me.

I just tried to create the logic this way. I too don't think that the number of hair buds that our head has, can change by merely shaving off the head. But, we don't know and can't see those hair buds which exist but can't come out of the skin to form a hair strand. This may be because it doesn't get any pore in our skin thick enough to peep out or doesn't get any opening or any pore at all. I think, once our head is shaven with a blade, the blade goes so close to our scalp that it brushes the pores very well, thereby opening some of the closed pores or widening the pores, thereby giving way to a lot of hair buds underneath to bud out. May be this is the reason why we can observe thicker and denser hair growth after shaving.

And this time I was quite convinced with my own logic. So we finally decided and shaved off her head. Although our daughter looks quite different now like a boy. But it doesn't matter much to us and as of now not at all to her. So its quite fine. I hope it finally makes some difference. If not, I will at least be satisfied that I tried whatever was there in my hands. Rest all is fate.

The first time I wore my shoes

My Daughter has started walking. She is very very excited ; I am double excited.
My dear sister had bought her a new pair of shoes .... very sweet pink ones.

I planned to make her wear those shoes and take her out for a stroll. I was so excited ... I was just imagining how I would have felt the first time my mother made me wear shoes. And suddenly something happened to me as if something entered my ears all of a sudden. I was able to hear a sweet voice that was quite familiar. God gracious ....... that was my daughter's voice ..... but I couldn't see any lip movement corresponding to what I was hearing. I was astounded to know that I could hear her heart speak....

This is the first time my mum is making me wear those pink shoes ......

O ..... o ....... my feet have been painted to pink!! and they have been tied in some way to always look the same!! Mum ....... this is so uncomfortable to explore the world ....... but ........ wow .....with these new feet mum is allowing me to explore the new world outside our house.She never let me do that before.
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We had quite a wonderful walk. So I am a little ok with these new feet.

But I still hate them. My feet are so badly tied up .... and all the more they are an obstacle between me and the floor. I have been again and again tumbling down because of them. I have cried in all possible ways. Now how to convey mum to get me rid of it?

I am soooo very suffocated. And...... finally ..... huh ...... thank you mum:) for understing what I have been trying to tell you all the while ......(And mum just took away those pink feet of mine) :)
What a relieeeeeef. This is it. I can now feel the lovely cool floor, the tiles in the balcony, the railing in the balcony, the wooden floor of our bedroom, the bed, the drawers, everything again. :D
My feet can breathe now. I love this toe ....... pink and yummy
Hey but now those pink feet look so attractive ...... let me see ...... wow ...... they smell good ....... hey mum ...... they taste really good ... I don't mind having them for my lunch today. Wow .... they are yumm ... why didn't u give me those before. Slurp .... its so good. Mum ...... o ..... mum ...... i love them .... y are you taking them away from me?
:( When I didn't like them ........ she forced them on me ..... now I love them so she has hidden them away from me ..... why are mums so strange?

Anyways, dear pinks i will find you soon. I ammmm coming....
O wow ...... my doll ...... :)
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Its so easy to distract the kids. But what happened to me again ... something went out of my ears all of a sudden..... I wasn't able to hear a single word beyond that. Anyways, but it was fun watching my little daughter explore her new walking skills .... especially in her first shoes.