This love goes all the way back to my childhood. I just needed an excuse to get my hands coloured with the beautiful designs of mehendi (henna). I went to a convent school and we were actually not allowed to apply mehendi (although being in a Hindu country I don’t know why they had this stupid rule) Coz be it a festival or family function or wedding, mehendi was always there. And this was one rule I always broke. I dint care what they would say coz I just liked it so much. So much so that the lady who applied mehendi on my hands, would drop in any time coz she knew my mom will never say no for me to apply it 🙃 In my early twenties, after I took a job, my co workers came from a different background. So mehendi for them would mean I got engaged or married! So every time I had mehendi on my hands, someone or the other would come up and congratulate me and I would have to say that it’s just for the festival 🙄 some wouldn’t believe I would go through the efforts just for a festival!

I’m glad that my daughters share the same love for mehendi that I had. Especially A. She gets super excited and won’t leave me till I agree to call the mehendiwali (the lady who applies mehendi for us). But amidst the pandemic I did not want to call any outsider home and decided to venture into this myself. I called for a couple of readymade mehendi cones from the market and googled cute mehendi designs for kids. The girls chose their designs and I started off. It took long! Like really long! I have used the cone before but it’s just been for small motifs and stuff. Never have I tried applying proper designs (partly because I never needed to and I could simply call over a professional). And also because if I would apply the mehendi it would mean I can only apply on one hand and I always wanted both my hands filled with the designs.

I am fortunate enough with one more thing. Along with the girls, my husband loves it too!!! You will find very very few men who like the smell and look of it. And fortunately mine is one of them! Otherwise for most women the husband becomes the deterrent.

My little A is one fashionista. She wants to wear party dresses every single day even if it means wearing a strappy dress even if we all are using full sleeves and sweaters. After the mehendi application yesterday we did a round of nail polish today. She usually likes different colours on all the nails and likes to apply those glittery shimmery coats on top. She’s going to visit her best friend tomorrow and she wants to be at her best 😄. And P’s friend is coming over tomorrow (she’s going to be seeing a friend for the first time in 6 months!) so even she wanted to apply nail polish with the glittery coat. Complete beauty treatment weekend!