Indian Culture

The lifestyle here is so different.  This is a third world country trying to break into a better and healthier way of living.  India is a place of constant over stimulation.  The two significant are smell and color. 

There are smells that I have never smelled in the states.  Some are putrid.  Some are rotting garbage up and down all the streets in all the cities.  Some are exhaust and smog.  Some the burning of everything from rubber tires to plastic to palm limbs.  Some are fragrant Jasmine flowers that are strung by the yard and worn in women’s hair.  There are cows walking anywhere and everywhere - eating and leaving droppings – town and country.  I’m happy when I smell nothing.

There is such a contrast in color everywhere.  The buildings are dull, the streets dirty and brown.  The men are in drab shirts and wear a Lungi.  A Lungi is a large piece of fabric worn around the waist then folded in half and tucked into the waist.  In southern India the color is blue.  It used to be worn as is but now they wear a pair of shorts under, thank goodness. 

The women wear saris.  They are beautiful and come in all colors – bright to ultra bright.  They can be covered in sequins, beads, braid, dangles, bangles and anything that shines, glistens and/or makes sound.  These people wear their wealth.  They don’t own a car, live in a hut and survive on rice in its many forms.  But they wear their wealth. 

The women wear earrings that are gold.  They dangle and then wrap up over the top of the ear. 

There are nose piercings – some small and some very large – if you are old and really wealthy you have each nostril pierced with large gold pieces.  It looks so weird like rings thru a cow’s nose. 

They have an anklet on both ankles.  If you wear only one then you are a whore so everyone wears two.  Some anklets are simple but others have up to 50 little bells that make noise with every step.  Some have 3 or 4 strands.  All anklets are made of silver.

They wear a bindi – that is the red dot between the eyes.  Some bindi’s are small, some large, some tear shaped and some are jeweled. 

If a woman is married she wears a gold chain around her neck.  If she can’t afford gold then she wears a gold cord.  That is the same as our wedding band on the ring finger. 

A married woman will sometimes wear red powder dye in the part of her hair.  That is another sign she is married.  A man wears nothing to indicate if he is married.

They wear several toe rings.  No one has only one toe ring.  There are at least 2 and often more on both feet.

If they go to Temple – and there are hundreds of Temples everywhere – they put yellow or red dye on the forehead.  The men will have several lines and circles on their forehead showing their faith and devotion.  Only the highest caste can make one long red line from hair line to eye brow.  That way everyone knows their social status and that they are ‘holy’.  At the hospital they even have a statue in the forayer with different colors of powder that are supposed to help you heal.  You just put as much as you want on your forehead.