Part II: The Return Offering

Part II: The Return Offering
A year had passed since that Navratri night when Meera had first offered her hair. For weeks afterward, she had run her hand over her smooth scalp, remembering the coolness, the freedom, and the way the Goddess had seemed so close.
Now Navratri had come again. The village was alive with music and the fragrance of incense. Women decorated the temple courtyard with rangoli, and lamps lit every corner.
Meera, draped in a fresh white saree with a red border, walked in with steady steps. Her daughter, now older, smiled knowingly — Amma had decided to shave her head again, not out of obligation, but devotion.
This time, there was no hesitation. She seated herself before the priests, folded her hands, and bowed her head. The barber dipped the razor in warm water, then pressed it gently against her scalp.
With each stroke, the sound of scraping filled the air — crisp, deliberate. Wet strands slid down to her shoulders, then to the stone floor. Meera closed her eyes, breathing in rhythm with the blade’s movement.
Soon her scalp was bare once more, glowing under the oil lamps. Sandalwood paste was spread in cooling circles across her head, leaving it smooth, fragrant, and sacred.
When she rose, women from the crowd whispered admiration. Few dared to repeat the tonsure every year. But for Meera, it was no longer a vow — it had become her way of connecting to Shakti herself.
Her daughter pressed a bindi onto her mother’s freshly shaven forehead. Meera smiled, her head shining in the lamplight, a living symbol of surrender and strength.

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