POETRY | MEMOIRS | WOMANHOOD
My ‘Jasminated’ Braid…
Journey Of My Hair From Braids To Single Braid…From A Girl To Woman…
My memories of braids
Go back to the school,
With those red ribbons,
Made by dividing hairs,
Carefully by my mother
at both sides, equally set,
While I try to escape;
I had Jasmines on braids,
Since flowers aren’t allowed
At school, I flaunted flowers
At marriages and temples,
As my constant makeup…
Later on, in college, I felt,
They were not “eligible”
Let my hair be “modern”,
To put up a “bold” look,
Braids aren’t fashionable,
The long hairs were cut,
Almost to half size, layered,
Everyone said,” Wow”; “great”!!
That weekend, as I went home,
My mother was upset, she cried;
My long hair was her effort,
The oils, the packs, all gone in vain.
As I evolved into a woman,
The hair was again cut short,
To cope with the motherhood,
To mask the hair falls, to save time,
My mother-in-law cried this time,
She wanted me to have long hair,
So I realized, those who love me,
Loved my long hair; it was grace.
I started to love my hair, it grew;
And still grow, so I am back to braid.
Now it is single, with daily Jasmines;
I started to” jasminate” my braid,
As a daily token of help to the woman
Who sells flowers at the station -
Takes her man, a paralyzed, to a chair
Not agreeing with defeat to destiny.
But now, as the days go by,
I can’t go without my braid,
nor jasmine flowers on my braid,
That has become my identity,
Graceful, making me beautiful,
And my mothers are happy…….
© SREEJA SANDEEP PILLAI — All Rights Reserved
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