Chennai : Why would you shave off your head for someone you haven’t met and probably don’t know of?

Yet Rennee Saradha didn’t think twice. It wasn’t for fashion; it was for a cause.

Read on why women in Chennai have been donating their hair all of this month.

When something as simple as a bad hair day can make you unsure of yourself, imagine the plight of the millions of cancer patients, who can only watch helplessly as their precious hair falls off in clumps leaving behind ugly bald spots.

For some, the treatment that can save them from the disease is more dreaded than the disease itself because one of the side-effects is hair fall.

“It may sound unbelievable, but there are many, especially youngsters, who prefer to lose their life rather than their hair,” says Ramya Ramachandran, the Rotaract Club secretary of the Women’s Christian College, Chennai.

The Rotaract Club recently launched Tangled – an initiative designed to create awareness about the importance of donating hair for cancer patients.

Tangled was flagged on February 4, World Cancer Day, at the college campus, by Dr V Shanta, renowned cancer specialist and chairperson of the Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai.

Film producer Siva (of Veeram fame), actor Parthiban, and Mirchi Siva, were among the celebrities present on the occasion.

Ramya Ramachandran (20), a student, along with Rotaract president Rennee Saradha, project chairperson, Sumaiya Fathima and the faculty coordinator, Dr Margaret Mary, are the driving force behind this very innovative initiative.

A final year psychology student, Ramya thinks that wigs work as a huge morale booster for cancer patients.

“Youngsters find it very difficult to accept the loss of their hair. They lose their self-esteem and prefer to forgo chemotherapy because of the fear of its side effects.

Wigs ensure that their body image does not change. It makes them feel better about themselves. It helps them get through this very difficult phase in their life.”