- Kagivan Prabaharan noticed hair loss at 18 and tried treatments like minoxidil
- He found hiding hair stressful and disliked medication side effects
- At 21, he shaved his head and felt free and in control of his life
Indians are recognised for their thick and strong hair, and we are obsessed with our locks. There are households where mothers and grandmothers prohibit daughters and granddaughters from trimming hair, let alone 'allowing' them a haircut. In Hindu culture, men shave their heads, symbolising purification, ego-shedding, and respect for the departed soul.
In fact, we are so obsessed with a head full of hair that we have tied marriages to it. How? You must have heard elders in the family telling men and women to eat healthy and maintain their hair, or else they won't find a suitable partner. People take pride in their luscious locks, and even experience body-image issues when they start losing hair or go bald.
Kagivan Prabaharan, a Tamil transformation coach, recently took to Instagram to share why he shaved off his head at 21 and went bald, a decision that he did not take by choice but eventually embraced.
Why Did The Health Coach Go Bald At 21
"Growing up, I was obsessed with my hair as a kid," he wrote in his post. At the age of 18, he noticed that he was losing hair. He watched several YouTube videos on using different haircare products to style his locks
"I tried minoxidil, finasteride, and heavily considered hair transplants as a freshman in university. As a young man, it was the hardest thing to go through life - having to hide my hair," he added. He shared that he did not expect it to happen at 19 and thought that he would be dealing with an issue like this in his 30s.
He continued fixing and styling his hair to hide the bald patch. He wore hats and hoodies to his classes, so no one would notice him from behind. "I pretended it was fine if I did the right things," he shared.
But these methods did not work on rainy days when wet hair would reveal the bald patch. "I didn't want to rely on surgery to stay on medication for the rest of my life. I couldn't focus on life because I was thinking about my hair all the time," he added.
He did not like how minoxidil and finasteride affected his body. "I hated how I spent so much of my life hiding something from the world when it was so obvious to me every second of the day. The negative self-talk, the mental bandwidth it took felt like a million pounds dragging me down," Kagivan Prabaharan confessed.
Hence, the fitness coach shaved his head at 21. "I took the plunge and shaved it off. And I never looked back. I felt in control. I felt free. I felt like I got my life back," he acknowledged.
How Everyone Reacted To His Bold Move
Kagivan Prabaharan confessed that his decision to go bald came as a shock to people around him, including his family, friends, and girlfriend. "They wanted me to grow it back. They weren't used to this new version of me. In typical Tamil mom fashion, she freaked out," he shared.
He added that no one could understand what he was going through and how much emotionally jarring it was for him to please everyone. However, shaving his head sparked a shift in him. He learned to let go of judgment and started feeling happy about prioritising himself.
"Now everyone loves the bald look (except my mom, she still tells me to grow it back)," he wrote in the post.
"Whether it's shaving your head or hitting the gym, the freedom you get from looking and living the life you always desired is priceless," Kagivan Prabaharan concluded his post.
Instead of resisting the hairfall and spending thousands, he took a bold step and got his confidence back.
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