Como todas las ma anas, Smita le desenreda el pelo a su hija Lalita.

Nunca se lo ha cortado: en India, las mujeres no suelen cortarse el pelo;

algunas no lo hacen jam s desde que nacen hasta que mueren.

Smita divide la melena en tres mechones que luego entrelaza en una trenza.

Hoy, sin embargo, no es un d a cualquiera.

Hoy es el primer d a que Lalita va a la escuela.

ENGLISH DESCRIPTION

THE ADMIRABLE STRUGGLE OF A WOMAN FOR THE FUTURE OF HER DAUGHTER. ADAPTED FROM LA TRENZA/ THE BRAID, BY LAETITIA COLOMBANI.

Like she does every morning, Smita untangles her daughter Lalita's hair.

She has never had it cut before: in India, women do not usually cut their hair;

some never cut it in their entire life, from birth until they die.

Smita divides her daughter's mane into three strands that she then intertwines in a braid.

Today, however, is not an ordinary day.

Today is Lalita's first day of school.