Beauty & Grooming  Discussion Forum

Name: Radha

This is Radha (refer to my reply to Jothi on 1 Sep 2009 and also my posting ‘Family Tonsure!’ dated 2011-05-30). I had my first ever gundu a week after my marriage in 1996 and I was 26 at that time. In my in-laws’ family a family gundu once in five years is the norm. That was a very nice experience and since then I got fully shaved in 2001, 2006 and 2011 along with my entire family. On each of those occasions I felt so good that I was looking forward to my next gundu. Since 2011, our visit to Tirumala is annual where gents shave every year and females shave only once in five years, in other years only three cuts.

The joyful addition this year is the first time gundu of my co-sister Brinda and her two daughters. Though my brother-in-law got married in 2003 (he was 30 at that time) his wife Brinda did not agree for her tonsure. Since he was working in Australia, he and she went there immediately after marriage and got herself a bobcut against the wishes of her husband and in-laws. But my m-i-l advised my b-i-l not to make an issue of it as she will come around later on her own. She not only kept her hair a bob cut all through but also made the hairs of her two daughters a boy cut. They returned to India for good in early 2015 and settled down in Pune where he is a software engineer and she a school teacher.

Early this year m-i-l invited them to join our annual trip to Tirupati. She told them that they need not take part in tonsure if they did not like it. But surprisingly, Brinda told m-i-l that it was a mistake that she did not do family tonsure. She wants to correct it now. She would be happy to get herself and all the kids tonsured. Only thing is, she would keep her and her daughters’ hair short – a boy cut after it grows to some length. My m-i-l agreed.

So on Sunday 29th May, we all (fil, mil, husband, myself and my two sons aged 19 and 17, my husband’s younger brother, his wife Brinda, their three children – a boy of 10 and two girls 12 and 8 – totally 6 males and 5 females) returned from Tirumala bald after our family gundu. This is my fifth tonsure and as on previous occasions I enjoyed it immensely. Also as on previous occasions I do not cover my head and I proudly go around bald. 36 year old Brinda was very happy after her tonsure and told me that she regretted delaying this wonderful experience. She is also moving around in Hyderabad bald without covering and in Pune also will not cover her head. She has promised that she will never again miss this five yearly family tonsure. Even her two kid daughters are elated with their smooth bald heads.

I am looking forward to 2021 for my next Tirupati gundu.

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