Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Controversial yet Educational…

A door with 'that sign' over it
I don’t want to offend my Grandads or anything but when I first arrived in India I couldn’t help but notice the Swastika sign almost everywhere I went. I chose to ignore it until a few weeks ago when I went with Paul’s boss to go and collect her new car. Collecting a car in India is a big deal, the Honda Civic came out decorated with a flower necklace and Tulika was required to smash a coconut in front of it. She then got some powdered red paint and drew the Swastika on to the engine of the car. This was the final straw, ‘Tulika! ‘I said. 'Why have you just drew the Nazi sign on your car, I think it’s inappropriate, my Grandparents were in the war!’ Amused, she explained to me that the Germans had taken this sign, altered it and changed its meaning. It is actually a Hindu religious sign which means good luck! Feeling slightly more educated than I did a few moments earlier, I enjoyed the journey back with new found cultural awareness and the smell of new car in my nostrils. 
Blessing the car
The cars pretty necklace made of flowers 

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3 comments:

  1. AndreaApril 13, 2011 at 1:58 PM

    I also had this same revelation early in my relationship with the Hubby… I was floored by information. To me, the swastika was always a bad sign… I honestly cannot remember ever being taught otherwise… not while in high school, or even college. Your reaction (and mine) goes to show that there is a huge lack of information and teaching…. I also felt obliged to blog about it. (I will add though, even though I now know it is an auspicious symbol for Hindus, I still wouldn't wear one here in the US… I'd probably be called a racist!)
    my post about it…
    http://caucasiancurry2.blogspot.com/2009/11/i-never-knewtill-now.html

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  2. SophieApril 13, 2011 at 10:14 PM

    I didn't realise you had a blog. Great minds think alike Andrea! I think its important to know, your post is ace,really informative x

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  3. AnonymousJune 1, 2011 at 2:50 AM

    Did you know about this small town in Canada called Swastika? - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika,_Ontario. It was so named in 1907 and the people of Swastika refused to change the name after WWII because they had it before Hitler debased it.

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