Why do you put a dot on your face?

[Aleem]

Brother Anil, well said... But no one answered Indian girl\'s questions. Can some one answer her plz.?

[Anil]

I thought I answered them. Why bother explaining or justifying to someone who can never understand. There might be someone who has genuine curiosity. To them just state it as a matter of fact. Don\'t go overboard. OK, if someone asks, why you wear a dot, why you don\'t eat beef/pork, or why do you pray or why do you wear a burqa? Just tell them \"that\'s our custom and we like following them to maintain our individual identity\" No more than that except to those who really want to know. Now, how to distinguish the genuinely curious from the pretenders - let\'s leave that to another board!

[Rakesh]

Well... I am new to this forum, but I have a lots to say...<br><br>
First of all, let\'s define what culture is. Culture is a way of living... it is an adopted lifestyle of a particular group/society depending upon the experiences garnered by their people. There are unsaid rules that are followed which are based on a universal appeal of right and wrong. Culture differs from religion in being \"life-centric\", which makes it superior to religion. We therefore see people of different religions sharing common practices if they appeal to them - singing, dancing etc are examples...<br><br>
Now I\'ll answer specific questions...<br>
(1) Why put bindi? -> It is used to increase the face value as per the tastes of the earlier times, probably... Gradually it has become a tradition, and has gotten imbibed in the culture. Speaking generally, a bindi on the forehead evokes respect for females and may also be a means of telling that the female is married and not open for romance...<br>
(2) Why do you eat chicken/meat and not pork/beef? -> Talking about the Indian culture, we are people who have been worshipping nature for long. We do it because of simple reasons... We show our gratitute for them, we show our affection for what nature gives to us... We worship trees for they hold our land, provide shade, provide medicines, wood and fruits. We worship mountains for they are the sources of all the rivers, they preserve forest and nature, and they give us rain. Similarly we worshipped the cow - the cow gave us milk, dung to burn and leather when it dies dies. It\'s simple to think now but in the ancient times this was all that a man could want for living. So to show respect and love, we worshipped the cow. In ancient times perhaps there were no buffalos or we\'d have worshipped them also... Simple reasons drive us. We are fed by our mother, we love her and we\'ve drunk cow\'s milk so she\'s equal... But why do we eat non-veg? I don\'t know... It\'s as simple... Maybe certain geographical conditions forced it on us and when meat was available cheaper than crop, our morals gave way to temptations and practicality. But for people who can afford a good veg diet and still eat non-veg, I don\'t have reasons to defend...<br>
(3) Why do you apply oil to your hair? -> Well!! The tropical conditions of India are far different from those of the West. The heat and other climatic conditions adversely affect the health of our hair. The water we use for bathing is also not good. All this could lead to premature greying and loss of hair. Hence!!!<br>
(4) Why do you say you want to return to India after a couple of years, why can\'t you just settle here, life is good here ? -> I\'ll tell you why... We know that the Indian socio-political system stinks. We know that the standard of living here is in an abyss. We know that there\'s corruption from top to bottom here and that even human values have taken a plunge. We know all this and more, but we also know within us that we all are carrying the dim candle-light of the great Indian culture... We know we ignore it, but by not trying to think about it, we\'ve kept it alive and we know that we want to see it flourish. Once again, we know we are sinners to have let it down, if we did, but we find shelter here only. We still believe that it has a heart big enough to take us back... We are proud of our culture, aren\'t we?

[Khatta]

Hi Rajesh, good explanation, but I think you haven\'t noticed this question on this board:
<br>\"Why do Indians nod thier head when they answer a question or talk\".

[Rakesh]

well we are very humble people traditionaly and probably its our way of making the guy in front of us feel more comfortable...we don\'t give stren looks like managers whose only motive is to prove their points.....
In fact nodding gives a positive and real time feedback to the subject that his/her points are being taken...

[Aleem]

Khatta, one word for that question. Illiteracy? (Body language)

[KK]

Hi, we keep facing these situations in a few neighbourhoods in the US that don\'t have much exposure to the Indian culture. These people seem to be curious and want to make sure of everything before they try. We are seeing a sea change in the attitude and talking of kids (Indian) when they go to school. Just think, have we ever said \"don\'t care\" in front of our elders? Here every kid uses the words \"I don\'t care\" if they don\'t like or don\'t want something. So we need to look it in a different perspective altogether. I will say, if anyone says not to wear a bindi, or sari or salwar, forces us to follow their habits etc., then we have a problem... As long as it is limited to knowledge sharing, that\'s fine...

[Samata]

I took the bus often when I lived in the US and each time someone (usually a kid) said, \" hey lady! why do you have a dot on your face\" or \"did you know that you forehead is bleeding (I use only maroon bindis)?\" I would explain to them that it was a cultural thing and many Indian women wore bindis. Most of them asked me further questions about being indian and talked about their indian friends or friends who had indian friends and so on and the time passed quite happily till our stops came. I would think that curiosity is normal and healthy when confronted with a strange culture and that there is no reason to get offended when people take the time to try and understand how we think and live.

[ausaaf]

Hi! Your questions are really great. Being Indian, your questions show luv towards your country and culture. Sure, they are adopting our culture.
okay, take care, keep smiling!

[bull]

Hi Indian girl, wish you are much happier now.!! with my similar experiences in the States, the only thing I could suggest is that don\'t be psyched or upset with the curious americans, most of them don\'t mean anything bad though. Metros like LA or NYC you won\'t find this problem.