E-Paper
Activists help Pune woman get rid of 22-yr-old dreadlocks
Members of superstition eradication group founded by the late Dr Narendra Dabholkar counselled the woman.
PUNE: A woman in her 60s was assisted by activists from the superstition eradication group founded by the late Dr Narendra Dabholkar, to get rid of an almost nine-foot-long dreadlocks that she had maintained for 22 years out of fear of god.
Known as ‘jat’ in Marathi, the dreadlocks were chopped off on Sunday at Bhor in Pune district.
The woman, Shantabai Bhiku Shinde, around 65 years old, had gone for cataract treatment at the local government hospital in Bhor where Dr. Ramchandra Kudale, a member of the health department, convinced her to get rid of her dreadlocks. He then called upon activists from the superstition eradication group, Andhashradha Nirmoolan Samiti (ANiS), to help her.
“She had gone to the local government hospital for an eye check-up. That is where she met Dr Kudale who counselled her and called us,” said Nandini Jadhav, Pune district head of ANiS who has completed more than 135 such operations.
A vegetable seller, Shinde, who lives with her son’s family and spends most of her time near a small temple built by her family, was being urged by some people around her not to take the step for religious reasons. “Before this jat (dreadlocks) started growing, she had already chopped it once 22 years ago. However, she lost one of her sons to an accident days after she got rid of it and then the people around her blamed her decision of getting rid of the locks for his death. So when the dreadlocks came back, she started maintaining it,” said Milind Deshmukh, Maharashtra head of ANiS
Shinde said it took her two hours and the assistance of 2-3 people to wash the dreadlocks. “This happens in the morning and then it takes the afternoon stretch to dry it. I put this all on one side of the bed and sleep on the other,” she said in an interview.
“I urge people with locks to get rid of it like I did. I feel so light. Now I almost feel like I do not have a head anymore,” she said.
According to Jadhav, the dreadlocks, which was chopped from its roots, could have weighed around 7-8 kg. “With a length of around 8-9 feet, the strands of the dreadlocks stood much taller than her 5 feet 4 inch frame,” she said.
