“For as long as I can remember, I was always of the opinion that people developed grey hair as they grew older. But that changed drastically when I started showing signs of early greying at a very tender age of 11. To say that I was bullied for this would be an understatement. I was termed ugly and people used all sorts of mean adjectives to describe me.

And then came the outpouring of concern in the form of advice and tips. Never in my life did I expect so many people to come forward with advice on my grey hair.

As the days passed, I dived into hair dyes between the age of 16 to 21. But with time, that too started to become a tiny bit tedious for me. I started to become comfortable with my silver strands and mentally prepared myself to not be perturbed by anything anyone says.

And there began the beautiful journey of me choosing my authentic self expression to portray to the world. It is so liberating when you realise that you don’t have to please anyone in this world.

Entering the matrimony field was another ball game altogether. I had multiple rejections because of my grey hair. I was questioned if I was actually portraying my true age and if I was lying about my age. One girl asked me to click an instant selfie just to confirm if my age was really genuine. But all of this finally led to me meeting the love of my life, Monisha

I’m 32 now and for the past decade, I have been so emboldened enough to flaunt my silver strands with authority and confidence. Many compliment me for my authenticity while others pass around weird comments. But either way, I have come to embrace myself holistically so I hold peace for those who disapprove of my choices”