Bald & Beautiful...

Hmmm........My first ever blog post.The thought itself thrills me to the core!! I just made an unplanned jump into the blog world, so pardon me if I get amateurish with my thoughts [but you would love them still....!! :P ;) ]

So, coming on to my blog topic without anymore How-I-came-here story, "BALD & BEAUTIFUL"(Interesting Name, isn't it??). I have no idea how I ended up with this title, but I have been giving it a thought for a while now.

Image via: istockphoto.com

I recently lost my maternal Grandma... :( who was one of the best persons I could have ever had in my life. So as are the traditions, men directly related to that person need to shave their hair off and go bald. As a child, at one occasion when I had to do the same, I never liked it (and who likes to?). Not that I am disrespecting the traditions, but I always wanted to know why it is so. Whats with the hair?? So when I had to shave my hair off recently, I decided to find the reason behind it. 

Come, take a walk with me through the wilderness of what I found....

In Hinduism, it is believed that the first person to meet with death was YAMA and this dubious honor makes him the only person [though he has more of a Lord status... ;)] who can guide other mortals to death. He has the sole authority of passing judgments on other mortals who follow him to the Heaven or to Hell where they are treated according to their life and doings prior to death. A good life prior to your death ensures you the Swarga, where there is everlasting enjoyment of all the heavenly pleasures, include the restoration of a sick body, the maintaining of family relations and the highly desired apotheosis  whereas a person who is judged not to be good goes to the Naraka, where they are punished aptly for their wrong doings.

Image via: thecbg.org

Hindus believe that when a person dies, he needs to be burnt so that the soul can be released from the mortal world. Not only that, they follow a twelve day ritual called shraadh, which is an attempt to please the guide king YAMA, as it is believed that the soul would reach to its destiny on the twelfth day. In this pursuit of pleasing, they offer their hair to the king so that he would be lenient to the departed soul. 

Image via: meetup.com

This offering, modified, turned and twisted over the ages to as it is today, where all the men related to the departed soul should shave their hair. AND BALD IS INDEED BEAUTIFUL, ISN'T IT??

GO WALK IN THE WILDERNESS PEOPLE...!!!