This afternoon, we learned how to do a henna treatment for hair. In addition to coloring your hair, it cools the head (palliating Pitta), removes and prevents dandruff, promotes hair growth, prevents hair loss, conditions the hair, keeps the scalp healthy and prevents/treats premature graying. I had it done to me and I currently have a helmet of hair full of dried henna paste. I'm about to take a bucket bath to rinse it out. What's a bucket bath, you ask? I can tell you because since January 22nd, all I've had are bucket baths. A typical bathroom in India has a toilet, a handheld sprayer (in lieu of toilet paper), a sink, a faucet that comes out of the wall, a plastic bucket and pitcher, a shower head (that as far as I'm concerned is just a big tease), and a drain in the corner. The shower pan is the floor. Toilet paper dispensers are optional.
My cousin taught me how to have a bucket bath when I arrived in Chennai because her shower head wasn't working, and so I had my first one. You fill the bucket with water at the desired temperature (if available -- it wasn't in Tangutur), and use the pitcher to pour water over your body. That's the rinse. You soap up and rinse again. Voila! Bucket bath complete. Water gets all over the floor, and the toilet and walls depending on how big the bathroom is. If the faucet is high enough and/or you are small enough, you can put your head/body under it and sort of have a shower. Bucket bathing has made me realize how much water I waste at home when I shower. Having said that, I will have a nice long, hot shower when I get home.As my cousin put it, Americans shower, the British bathe, and Indians have bucket baths. I'm not not knocking the bucket bath. It's just not what I'm used to. I'm an American and I like to shower.
2 comments:
Ah yes, the bucket bath. My last night in Delhi the hotel had an actual shower head with actual pressure and actual hot water, but it still wasn't the same as the AMAZING shower I took as soon as I got home.
RE: the henna treatment - does it add any color?
It's really the only "thing" I'm missing here! The henna does add color. I realized after I published that I didn't include that detail. My hair is reddish. My grays are pretty red. Coffee and tea powders are used to add color. For darker color, you're supposed add more coffee powder. You can also repeat it a few times to get it darker.
Post a Comment