Should You Learn Mendhi Designs?

Hey!

A handful number of years ago, I visited Pakistan and came across many teenagers that were involved in learning a new skill. I remember when I was much younger, I would spend my days in front of the television set or online browsing the web endlessly for anime and other childish things. Upon my travels, I was totally impressed how young girls utilize their time effectively by learning things that may in the future become more than just a hobby. From stitching to self-grooming, many institutions are open nationwide and assist girls of all ages to learn a variety of tasks.

I happened to have a neighbor that was highly skilled in applying henna designs. She learned from mehndhi patterns from an institute near our home a few years ago. When asked why is she interested in learning this course as opposed to other courses available, she answered that she would like to learn as makeup, hairstyling and henna go hand-in-hand and it is inconvenient as well as costly to find a henna artist to apply mehndi at all times.

After learning the basics, she practiced hours on end upon her family members. Luckily, she lives in a joint family and has more than one person at home that likes henna designs. She would apply henna designs on their hands and feet whenever a wedding function was near. After honing her skills, her family would often praise her before relatives and neighbors. The word-of-mouth advertising proved to be effective as she started receiving customers of all ages in the comfort of her home. 

 Given my personal relations with her, I asked her if she would like to teach me mehndi designs. I thought she would politely decline as it's not an easy task to learn. Surprisingly, she was keen on teaching me and would daily bring her younger sisters and cousins along so that I can practice on their hands. My friend taught me simple designs and then moved onto Arabic and Somali mehndi designs. 

It took me a while to get a good grip of holding the henna cone. At first, mehndi would not come out despite squeezing the cone as hard as possible. At other times, too much would come out all at once. It was also difficult to learn how to apply intrinsic henna patterns. My friend, however, succeed in teaching me how to apply mehndi within a handful number of months.

I am grateful to have such a dear friend and encourage others that have free time to learn this beautiful art form. If you get good at it, who knows? You may just have a customer standing at your door!