"Ouch! It hurts Ma!"
I made a face as Ma tugged at my plait fixing the end with a rubber band.
"Ouch! It hurts Ma!" mimicked Golu as he ran pulling a few strands out of my ponytail.
Suppressing a giggle, Ma shooed Golu away and started to re-do my braid caressing where it had been pulled at.
Rubbing a little oil between her hands, she began massaging my head. From the forehead, all the way back to the nape of my neck, from the eastern ear to its western counterpart. From agitation to relaxation.
Aha!! Mothers know it all.
We sat on our porch stair facing the kitchen garden. Golu lurked at the boundary wall, for he was done playing his menace on me. Drawing my back closer to her, Ma combed my hair. Gathering strays with her soft yet firm fingers. Collecting the bunch at my neck, she neatly divided it into 3 sections. I could now imagine her brows coming together in concentration as if the balance of the universe pivoted on my head.I called these three, the Brahma, the Vishnu and the Mahesh in my head. The universe surely depended on them, if not my hair! I chuckled at this private joke.
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