India, Dec. 3 -- My knee-length, straight, black mane has often been an ice-breaker. Right from young girls in the park to auto drivers, washroom attendants, subzi-mandi visitors, fashionable mall-strollers to fellow conference attendees, it has evoked curiosity in all of them. Perfect strangers feel no inhibition in approaching me directly and ask, "Which shampoo do you use? How do you maintain your hair? What do you apply for this jet black colour? How do you condition your hair?" I've been amused by their innocent assumption of the right to barge in, hold me back and quiz me about my hair and by their expectation that I would be more than welcoming to share my secret with them and respond smilingly.

In earlier days, I used to be at a ...