Henna/Mendhi Time!

Boom! Boom! Boom! They all marched towards me with humph and anger with their fingers pointing at me ready to argue. I was caught for not involving them for something that I had got done. It was me vs kids!

Yup, I was guilty of having henna applied to my hands. 

“Why did you get it done without us?” questioned Aarav.

“Mama, not fair! Now we want mendhi too!” said the girls in an angry tone.

Recently, at one of our friends wedding, in one event, they had mendhi artists applying mendhi to all the ladies. So naturally, I applied it.

So I ended up getting the henna cone from the eyebrow place I go to. The cones are usually between $2-$3. You can get henna cones at any Southeast Asian stores or eyebrow places.

Mind you, I am not a great artists, but for my kids, I was Picasso in their eyes. They wanted all complicated and elaborated designs. So, I calmed them down and decided to copy off the design I got on my hands.

It was some creative time for me especially trying to come up with ideas to draw. There is no right or wrong designs so the best part is what you draw, it looks pretty. Moreover, kids feel a sense of satisfaction. The girls feel very pretty while my son felt very cool about it. You can draw what ever designs or images you feel like drawing on your hand. There are times when my son wanted a superman or spiderman sign because he felt like he was getting a real tattoo.

Generally, as we grow older, it is the girls that apply henna. Henna has a very feminine feel to it. In Indian culture, guys will mostly apply it when they are the groom or it is a very close persons wedding. I feel that henna is an art form which expresses your inner character so it should not make a difference as to who applies it, be it a girl or a guy.
 

Henna and mendhi are pretty much synonymous.

You can read the differences about it on http://www.differencebetween.net/language/words-language/differences-between-mehndi-and-henna/.

You can also find innumerous amounts of designs and tutorials on google.

Generally, henna is associated with ceremony or weddings, but I feel you do not have to wait for one. Whenever you feel like exploring your creative side or having some fun, grab a henna cone and begin!

“Wow, so pretty,” said Aria.

“But mama which one better -mine or didi (sister)?” asked Kiara.

Uh-oh..Flash warning! This was the dangerous question which I decided to leave unanswered and walked away.

Beware parents…