saying it with symbols

When I first came to Chennai, the fact that I don’t wear dot attracted a lot of attention. I was asked whether I am a Christian or a Muslim or I am a widow. dot Auspicious is a strong sign of Hindu womanhood, just like a . Absence of kolam A conservative may indicate an unhappy home outside the door.

As a species, we are very strongly driven by semiotics, the desire to project meaning about ourselves. We do this through thousands of gestures, small or large, subtle or in-your-face, each designed to indicate who we are or what we want the world to think we are. Philosopher Charles Pearce once said that we are homo significance Or meaning maker. We invest in objects, smells, sounds, expressions, and now, emoticons, with specific, often culture-specific, meanings.

A tattoo shows that you are calm, but it could be in Sanskrit to indicate your inertia. The hairstyle we sport, shirt Everything we wear, the book on our coffee table, is a banner full of data that we are disseminating, unconsciously or unintentionally. Hollywood movies always include a scene where a potential lover sees the ring finger of the story of a flirting partner. even the most stylish mangalsutra A sign of the same thing: married. And who can miss the elbow-high bangles of brides who are honeymooning in hill stations?

Many such signs are related to religion. To the north, the red rope is common on the wrists of Hindu men and women, to the south is the forehead mark, which may also indicate caste. People wear crosses on chains and caps on their heads. Some Christian denominations wear all white, as do some Jains. Nevertheless, as with dot Now, many of these signatories in India are fluid and easy. South Indian churches are likely to kolms and lotus flowers as in Hindu temples. Many Muslim women give up burqa, A Christian woman we knew and loved in Kolkata loved wearing Vermilion So much so that he was buried with a parting filled with vermilion.

A land in which myriad religions and sects and subsets have merged, coexisted, mingled and fuse for millennia, suddenly cannot be separated with rigid lines of clothing or food. sudden ban of Hijab In Karnataka, which began last month at the Udupi Women’s Pre-University College, an artificial chainsaw is being used to violently tear people apart. Muslim student Hijab There is no danger to students other than Hindu students dot Or red wrist cords. If indeed the insecurities stemming from a different garb are so severe that Hindu students feel the need for the completely fabricated practice of saffron scarves, that’s okay too.

Students come to the institutes to study and it is the responsibility of the institute to let them go. How much or whether they wear their religion on their sleeve is a largely personal decision, such as wearing their hair in pigtails or a bob. Unless taken to extremes, authorities are not required to interfere with modest displays of piety or fashion. To make the admission of students to the class conditional on their removal Hijab There is an astonishing act of excess. Where could this logically end? Will the same officers demand that a Sikh student give up his turban or Hard, And what if a student going to Sabarimala takes permission to come without shoes and without shoes?

Similarly, it is wrong to compare this restriction to feminism. One may disagree with any custom that calls for a woman to cover her hair or face, but that is a different fight, one that is the best fight with education and emancipation, and without danger.

What is most important in this difficult time is a sense of adjustment. It should not surprise us when a besieged minority clings to its cultural indicators. For example, black women fiercely defend the cornrow hairstyle because it used to be a sign of resistance that slaves once wore. When one is surrounded by an extraordinarily rich and extraordinary cultural overflow of the majority, it is only natural for one to hold on more firmly.

own marker. to be seen. to stand out. To shout that you are different, that you matter. that’s it Hijab or silk shirt Or do shorts. They provide an identity. And we must let them go. After all, we are first and foremost, as Pearce said, homo significance,

Where the author tries to understand the society with seven hundred words.