Gone tomorrow!
“It’s just hair, it’s just hair,” chanted mom silently, as the hairdresser cut away four years worth of her daughter’s hair.
“It’s not a limb; it will grow back in no time,” she consoled herself, watching Kuki preen in front of the mirror in her new hairdo.
Vague recollections from a lifetime ago floated into her mind. Temper tantrums, whining, sulking, pleading, cries of ‘It’s not fair!’ had preceded her own first haircut – an act of open defiance at the age of 12.
Grandma’s face was dark and unreadable when mom had returned home with her new blunt cut.
“You’ll understand when you grow up,” she had sniffed, quietly returning to the kitchen.
After all these years, mom just did.
P.S. At grandpa’s insistence, a lock of hair was set aside for deposit in the Tirupathi hundi.
No one (including grandpa) is really sure why.
No one (including grandpa) is really sure why.
18 comments:
I KNOW, Terri. That inexplicable lump on your throat !
But why? Such wonderful hair too.
lakshmi, we were growing her hair to donate it.
There, there. It will grow back. But boy, how did you and Kuki manage to grow it so long without it driving y'all crazy? Raina's hair is probably half that much and too much work for her mama.
Oh dear, such gorgeous hair! The way my hair's been falling post baby, I wish I hadn't been so keen to keep it cut short all those years when I actually had the option!
Who was the wise person who said 'youth is wasted on the young'?
Merry Christmas to you all :-)
This is so touching. Hugs to Kuki for doing something like this. Her hair is gorgeous!
muser, it did drive us crazy because Kuki screams at the sight of a comb and hates to wash her hair. But having Indian actresses for role models worked.
moppet's mom, you cut away gorgeous mallu hair? But then you can grow it any time again, and if you have frizzy hair, no one can tell if it's thinning.
manisha, don't, you'll make me cry again!
Not to sound irreverent or anything. But donate for what purpose? Just curious. As far as I know, people in India donate hair only to the Gods.
lakshmi, nothing so lofty as giving to the gods. We gave her hair to locksoflove.org.
Oh, that is so touching. I have never heard of this before. Thank you.
we were growing her hair to donate it - AHAHAHAHAHAA
Sorry, I understand this is a solemn moment. But I think Kuki will be glad of the shorter hair... unless she's super good at keeping herself tidy.
--Amrita.
By the way, all that hair people donate to God - what do you think He does with it? Must write post! Thanks Lakshmi and Terri!
my compliments, really like your style!
Beautiful gorgeous hair :) Reminds me of munchkin's locks in September..
I did a similar defiant chopping of length too, and as luck would have it, got married two months later. No steady long original poo-jadais for me!
my hairs grows as much as in the pic in just three months...yeah i know that abnormal for a guy...maybe i shud put it in the hundi too...can use all the blessings i can get too....works rite?
1$ saint, surely you aren't praying for a full head of hair?
rads, tsk, tsk, bob cut aa?
ms, thank you.
indie, we're tapping foot and waiting. Where does all the hair go? To Israel?
Where does all the hair go? Hmmm jokes apart, while in high school, ages ago, one of the companies having its offices in the same street as our school was this company that bought locks of hair from tirupati type places and treated it and exported it to companies abroad who made wigs out of the hair. So now you know! And after a google search, I found today that the company still exists.
anantha, I remember reading somewhere that certain Jewish women were horrified to learn that their wigs came from devout Hindus. The matter calls for further investigation from the likes of Amrita.
On another note, what a crummy job that would be to clean all that oily, perhaps lice-ridden hair from Tirupathi. Second only to working as a lab tech. who examines stool samples.
noooooooo..... and I have bald babies so hair is very precious to me. but bless you, since she is too young to have realised. its a great cause. i'd give my babies' hair if they had any.
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