The Hair-loom
The Hair-loom My grandpa Ramakrishnan had a floor mill. The mill had a Shikakai (seeka) grinder as well. Dried Shikakai, Amla, Ritha, hibiscus etc. were ground together for washing our hair. Those days people seldom used shampoos. This powder was part of every household in the KGF town. Every Sunday morning was a hair bath day. Panjamani Atthai* or Panjattey worked in our floor mill and washed our hair every Sunday with seeka. Being the youngest, I was the first in queue followed by Rohini akka* (Chittappa’s daughter), Madhangi akka (Gowri Atthai’s daughter) and Selvi akka (Mathi Atthai’s daughter). After a long hair wash with sneezes and burning eyes, the hair was rolled up in bun with thin towel. Next, it got fumed with Sambrani smoke. Then, I drank kashayam* as shikakai cools the body and I caught cold easily. All of us sat in a row to get a small plait on our head crown leaving the rest of the hair free called as thenneer jada*. It resembled the flow of a water s...
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