Author Archives: Sanjana Manchala

Together Forever – A Henna Tradition

Item and Context:

“Henna traditions are deeply entrenched in the proceedings of Indian weddings. I remember when I was a teenager, my older female cousins would be getting married, and they would tease all of us younger girls by saying that if they hid the initials of our boyfriends in our henna and the respective boys were able to find them in the swirls and floral patterns, we would be together forever. Of course, being a teenager, I found this pretty embarrassing and awkward, as most teenage girls are when it comes to boys. Now, it’s no big deal, because I’m already married. But the next time any of the girls in our family gets married, I won’t leave you!”

Analysis:

As the informant mentioned, henna is really important in Indian weddings, regardless of religious affiliation. There are man different henna rituals and traditions, including this one. Oftentimes, the people targeted by this “hidden initials” ritual are the teenage girls of the wedding party, i.e. the ones who are about to grow up and get married soon enough. Therefore, it is common to embarrass them by hinting towards their upcoming weddings. Also, the idea of predestination is important in the faith of Hinduism, the predominant religion of India. The idea that a woman’s soulmate has already been picked out for her from lifetimes before and for lifetimes after is highlighted by this tradition, and the ideal outcome is that the girl’s supposed boyfriend should find his initials in the girl’s henna. Since henna is traditionally applied on the palms of a girl’s hands, the notion of palmistry is also brought up here ; if the boyfriend is able to find his initials in the girl’s henna, symbolically, he is finding and establishing his place in her hectic life as well.

Jinxed Travel

Item:

“Never ask someone where they’re going before they’re about to leave.”

Context:

My informant reminded me of his relationship to the superstition: “I’m sure you remember this one better than I do, since you’re the one who always asks the question before Mummy and Dad go anywhere. But anyway, I’m not sure if it’s just a family thing or if other people do it too, but every time Mummy and Dad are about to leave somewhere and one of us kids has the stupid idea to ask them where they’re going, we get a shouting. Why? Because you’re not supposed to ask someone where they’re going before they get there, even if it’s like just to the grocery store or something. Why? I’m not sure. Maybe it’s some kind of weird jinx or something. They never tell us why.”

Analysis:

As the informant rightly suggested, this superstition must be some form of a jinx on the journey that is about to begin, however long or short it may be. It’s similar to when someone is about to try something new, for example enter a competition or begin a new relationship, and someone close to them says something good about the upcoming project/endeavor, and is told promptly not to “jinx it” and to shut up. Strangely though, this jinx does not extend past travel in the family. It is only when the parents are asked where they’re headed that they are supposedly jinxed – not when something bigger or more important is about to happen.

Wealth And Character

Item:

“If Wealth is lost, something is lost. If Character is lost, everything is lost.”

Context:

The interviewee was very open about her experience with this proverb – “My father used to tell me this all the time. He told me that an individual’s greatest asset is their character. And that if they lose everything else in life – their dignity, their money, their house, their family – as long as their morals, integrity, and humility are intact, nothing will shake them. He stressed the importance of being a good person over being a rich and materially successful person. And so I’ve tried to live by this philosophy.”

Analysis:

This is a Vedic proverb, which conveys a very Hindu ideal. The main purpose of the Hindu faith and its various scriptures, including the Vedas and the Bhagvadgita, is to teach people how to live a simple, honest, and fulfilling life. It accomplishes this through preaching moral values and highlighting the importance of a strong character (Dharma) over wealth (Dhana). In fact, one of the best ways to attain moksha, the ultimate state of being, where a person can be as close to the gods as possible, is by giving up all worldly attachments, including money, fame, and love, and focusing solely on living a simple, Spartan life that tests one’s willpower and devotion. Therefore, it would make sense for strength of character to take precedence over wealth in a society where such values form the backbone.

 

Writing In Water

Item and Context:

“Kadhan Aardh! (You will have bad luck!) I remember hearing this every time I tried to write something in water on the windows of our car. It was so unfair. Every other kid gets to write in their car window water without being cursed by their mother. Geez. I mean, I got so fed up that I just went and asked Mummy what was so bad about drawing a smiley face in fogged up windows. She told me it was something about water taking away your wishes because it’s so volatile and temporary or something like that. So yeah, don’t write anything in water…in front of your Indian mother.”

Analysis:

As the informant mentioned, water is a very ‘volatile and temporary’ substance, always changing form, flowing, and vanishing from sight. In Hindu tradition, water is considered a soul-cleansing substance. It takes away everything with it. In the case of the informant, he just drew a smiley face in the foggy window of his family’s car, but his mother’s superstitious concerns would be understandable if he had been writing some life’s goal or deep, dark wish in the droplets of water, and it trickled away, or evaporated, causing any hope of the wish coming true to dissipate into the air or percolate into the ground, far away from reach, with it.

The Thirsty Dog And The Selfless Man

Item:

“So this is one story that really stuck with me, because I love animals. There was once a man who was very, very thirsty. And he walked and walked until he found a well. And there was no bucket and only a rope. So he climbed down into the well and drank and drank and then pulled himself up. And he saw a dog. And it was like dying of thirst. Really skinny, you know. So he took off his shoe and climbed back into the well and filled his shoe and brought it back up. And let the dog drink. But the dog was still thirsty. So the man went down and back up, down and back up, refilling his shoe for the dog. Until it finally wasn’t thirst anymore. And I think the end is that the Prophet said that the man’s deeds were forgiven and he went straight to heaven.”

Context:

The informant told me that she liked this story specifically because it was an animal fable, and that the man made such an effort to make sure that the dog was satisfied – “Because he put an animal’s needs before his own.”

Analysis:

Interestingly enough, there is a version of this very same story in the many Panchatantra tales. It plays out exactly the same way, but instead of the dog transforming into an Islamic holy figure, it transforms into a Hindu deva (demigod), and blesses the man with nirvana. What is most intriguing is that the only substitution is the religious figure. All the other elements remain intact, which makes it seem as though the story existed for a long time across the Indian subcontinent before it was ever given a particularly religious context. The main idea portrayed in the story is essentially – “Always do good things, because you never know who’s watching!” In this case, the skinny, starving, thirsty dog turned out to be a divine figure. This is probably meant to be metaphorical rather than taken literally, in that the man’s selfless deeds cleansed his soul and garnered him favor with the man upstairs. Therefore, the story seeks to demonstrate that no good deed is left undone.