Young And Grey

For this eccentric cast of grey-haired models, their tresses are their trademark

- Sneha Bhura

Silver, pewter, witchy white—there are many shades of grey in the ageing spectrum. And some of us, in our path to unconditional self-acceptance, embrace our greying mane as strands of glittering goodness, a gift from the moon, a glorious crown of wisdom to be snazzily flicked and flaunted, whether you are 27 or 72.

For Nishrin Parekh, 53, who became a bodybuilder at 48, her short grey hair is her staunchest ally. “You would be surprised to know I have never oiled my hair. I have shampooed and conditioned it every single day. And I have the kind of bouncy hair which friends who are my age can only dream of,” says the Mumbai-based Parekh, who is recognised as India’s oldest fitness athlete by the Indian Body Builders Federation (IBBF). “This is what I do. I go up on stage, with my sixpack abs, in a bikini. I train very hard. I compete with women who are half my age, who toss their long, flowing hair this way and that. And when I, with my short hair, come up on stage, I cannot tell you the kind of respect I get. I am the only fitness athlete who is given a mike to address the crowd.”

Parekh, who comes from a conventional Bohra Muslim family and is married to a Hindu, dared herself to wear a bikini for the first time at the age of 50. “My hair has literally become a trademark,” says the mother of two. In September, she appeared in a Shoppers Stop commercial as an older woman marrying a man much younger to her. She also plays a cab driver in hipster yellow alongside M.S. Dhoni in a TVS Star City ad and a guest at a lunch hosted by Amitabh Bachchan in a Tea Valley ad. She was once the wicket keeper in an ad campaign for an IPL-associated company that insured people seated in spots likely to get pounded by sixers.