By Sanskriti Arora
Katyayani’s mother held her still by pressing her hand into her daughter’s shoulder,
her nails dug into her hairy skin,
Mummy! Can you be gentle? She pleaded. She raised her head and looked straight
into her mother’s focused eyes
as she scrubbed her face with turmeric mixed with gram flour and water.
We need to do this now;
it is easier to remove baby hair. She spoke matter-of-factly. Her voice was consistent
and unwavering after hearing her child’s
consistent screaming and begging. What is so painful about this? She thinks to
herself. She would have been grateful
if her mother had tried to make her pretty at a young age. She would not be stuck
here. She rubbed Katyayani’s cheeks
and the fat moved with her hands, moulding her. Mother worried about that too, but
she consoled herself by calling it
“baby fat,” and she had heard from other mothers that baby fat disappears when they
grow up. Though she was already sixteen
and her blouse was starting to tighten against her chest. She scrubbed the dried
flour to naturally wax her daughter’s
facial hair, just as she was advised by her husband’s great aunt.
Katyayani’s eyes had started to water
but her work was not done yet. When her forearm got tired, she
splattered cold water onto her face. Mother used her nails to rub especially hard
around her side-locks because she has hated
them since the time her sister-in-law had pointed them out when she had first
come to meet her newly born niece.
Bhabhi, hey Bhagwan, she is so hairy! Later, her mother had examined her
Daughter’s small body and realised that
her sister-in-law was right. She had grown and given birth to a hairy girl.
Now, as she examined her girl’s freshly
treated and washed face for traces of success, but she could still see the long hairs
firmly rooted in her face.
By Sanskriti Arora
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