This thesis explores the importance of hair among Colombian and Indian literatures in relation to their status as formerly colonized regions. In both Latin American literature and South Asian literature, the cutting of hair works as metaphor for larger mechanisms of The State, especially when severed or cut. The act of severing ties and roots to a homeland or cultural practice features prominently in both A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry and “Nada” by Lido Pimienta. Borrowing from African hair discourse––wherein nation, femininity, and spirituality predominate––this thesis will apply the same inquiries to a discussion of India and Colombia. The texts, A Fine Balance and “Nada,” feature most prominently in this conversation because they emphasize the parallels between representations of formerly colonized peoples in both Latin America and South Asia. Though set in the relative present, the works of art explored here demonstrate how subjugated pasts bleed into present inequalities in the Global South.