Mehendi
This week Bobby (Pramella Aunty’s daughter) applied mehendi to my hand. For such a long time I have admired this spectacular part of Indian culture, and I have always wanted to learn how to apply it myself. Bobby showed me how to apply it, and I also bought a book with different designs. Although it will take time to learn how to perfect this art, I’m so excited to learn how to do it! Ammu volunteered to be my test subject J Mehendi is the Indian word for henna (we usually call it henna in the U.S.), and it also refers to the art of applying henna. It is used to create temporary tattoos in different shades of brown usually on the feet or hands of a woman. Traditionally, it was used for medicinal purposes, but today it is used to create designs, dye hair, and to color nails. The henna is actually an herb, and it is similar to the tea plant. The leaves are dried, ground into a fine powder, and then mixed with other things to create a paste or the body. Usually mehendi is used for woman’s hands and feet for decoration, however for special occasions men also apply mehendi.

Bindi
Another marvelous part of Indian culture is the use of the bindi. The bindi is a colorful marking worn by a woman on her forehead, right above the meeting point of the eyebrows. Most Indian women wear the bindi, whether they are young or old, modern or traditional. However in Northern India, only married women will wear it. The traditional bindi is red, but there are also colored ones to match different outfits. The color red is powerful, as it represents shakti, power, and energy. There is evidence that bindis have existed since the 4th century! According to the Hindu religion, the bindi marks the 6th chakra, which symbolizes power and balance. It also assists with the flow of energy. It is representative of the third eye, or the mind’s eye, which sees into the spiritual world. The bindi is a reminder to use and cultivate the spiritual vision and to see beyond physical appearances. It can be made with clay, sandalwood, or ashes, but there are a wide variety of colors and designs of stick-on bindis.

A Haunting Vision
Leeza and I went on the bus to Ernakulum and I saw a sight that sent shivers up my spine. Just the thought of it even now makes me filled with despair, desperation, and sadness. What I saw was a woman, probably in her mid-thirties, wearing a sari with the typical nose ring, necklace, and earrings. She looked as if she was a typical lower class woman who had enough money for necessities and food. She was bit chubby, as was the baby boy she was holding. The baby boy certainly looked as if he had enough to eat, and was also dressed appropriately. Then I saw the young girl with her. I wasn’t sure of her age, probably between the ages of 4 and 6. Her clothes were tattered and torn, just hanging off of her body. Her body was nothing but a skeleton, she was so thin and malnourished that it pained me and made me physically sick to look at her. The hunger I had in my stomach for lunch was replaced by a sickening pain. But this child I was looking at didn’t even look like a child; I thought I was looking at an animal. The look in her eyes spoke of a life beyond pain and despair, because there was no light in them. They were dead, to match her body which was also dying. It made me beyond distressed to think that I had seen homeless dogs and cats that were fed better than her in India. Leeza then leaned over and said to me, “I think that family is from North India because she’s wearing a different type of dress. They are probably beggars or laborers.” Leeza used to live in New Delhi which is part of North India, so she has seen many types of people living in extreme poverty. I am fortunate to stay in Kerala, where there is a high literacy rate and hardly any beggars. In fact, the only people who beg are usually the ones that are being forced to beg by groups like the beggars mafia (they force adults and children to beg and the head people get their money). [As a side note, there was a beggar who died here and they found over 1 lakh (2,000 dollars) in his bank account]. Therefore, people don’t really give money to beggars here because then they would be reinforcing groups like the beggars mafia. I then looked around the bus and saw that everyone was staring at this family. Leeza went on to say, “Here in Kerala everyone will look at them, not only because they are from North India, but also because no one in Kerala is malnourished like that.” What she said next chilled me to the bone. She said, “See the mother and baby boy? They are plump.” I nodded; they looked plump and healthy to me. Then she said, “In North India, they usually don’t want girls. So they will give all the food to the boy child and starve the girl child.” I asked in disbelief, “They want her to die? Will she die?” She said that she may not die, but just be malnourished. I could not bear myself to look at this child again, it made me sick. It made me even more sick to know that a mother could do this to her own child. I prayed for this small girl as I got off the bus, but nothing could take away the pain in my stomach. This is just one of the many injustices that women and children face in India. Each day, I am not only learning but also experiencing first hand what women have to face. Unearthing the causes for these types of injustices and finding solutions is a difficult task as women also perpetuate their subordinate status in society.