The Devotee Who Reigns the World: Akilandeshwari

Uma has never once managed to stay quiet, not even for a god. On Kailasa, that means being the only one still asking questions everyone else agreed to stop asking a long time ago. So when her father goes silent in a way that has no explanation and no comfort in it, she doesn't wait for someone to hand her one. She walks down the mountain into Gaj aranya, a forest that doesn't hold still the way Kailasa does, looking for whatever her father worships that isn't spoken of at home. This isn't the story of a girl who already knew who she was. It's the story of how a girl became a devotee and preferred to be one always.