Dear Indian men, stop growing your hair long. You look as though you haven't bathed in three days

Even Salman Khan couldn't pull the long hair off in Tere Naam. There's no way you're going to either.

Sonaakshi Kohli
जून 22, 2017

Long hair isn't a girl thing, but you've got to maintain them, guys. Photo: Yogen Shah/Twitter

Not so long ago, I wore an electric blue mascara on an outing with a couple of male friends, who were left pretty amused with it. They came up with some not-so-innovative nicknames for me after looking at my long, blue eyelashes. From bhootni to dayan to Annabelle, I was teased with every word ever associated with anything ghostly or haunted.

I didn't exactly take this torture lying down and retorted by making fun of the shoulder-length hair of one of the guys, who was an active participant of that take-each-other's-case conversation.

Soon after, I came across pictures of my favourite actor Ranveer Singh dominating the social media scene and I was appalled. No, it wasn't his clothes or his usual quirky antics--it was his hairdo. He was sorting the same hairstyle that I had dissed a couple of hours back. In fact, his long hair literally created history as it was the first time ever that I got put off by his looks. If you think I'm being dramatic, check out the difference between Ranveer with neat, cropped hair and Ranveer with a long mane of sorts:

Ranveer looks way tidier and handsome in cropped hair. Photo: Yogen Shah/ Twitter

Just as I was battling the first shock of the day, I came across yet another set of pictures that axed my broken heart. It was a picture of Ranbir Kapoor with long, wavy hair for a movie that he's currently shooting for.

Ranbir Kapoor's wavy hair is ruining his charm. Photo: Yogen Shah/Twitter

And it wasn't just the young brigade that peeved me. Superstar Aamir Khan's untidy slick black hair with a hair band just added to my disappointment.

Aamir's hairband is making his hairstyle worse. Photo: Yogen Shah

Now, before you accuse me of being sexist or judgmental, let me clear the air by drawing clear-cut parallels here: perhaps, my mascara was applied shabbily and my friends' comments had nothing to do with them trying to discourage me from experimenting with it in life. In fact, they happen to be the same guys, who totally loved my bob haircut and eccentric yellow sports shoes. The same way, I have a problem with guys with long hair--not because I think that it's a girly thing to do, but because poorly maintained, unkempt hair do not seem aesthetically pleasing to me.

Maybe a tidier version of this hairstyle can help their cases, but until then, I can't help but think of Salman Khan from Tere Naam every time I see a guy trying to pull off long, unkempt hair.