Opinion: Why Asymmetry On Articles Of Faith Is Bad Business |
Opinion: Why Asymmetry On Articles Of Faith Is Bad Business
What we wear is what we are; following international ‘norms’ while ignoring our own is unacceptable now.
When our office caricaturist was asked to draw me for a logo some years ago—perhaps to illustrate an article — he drew on (pun intended) two immutable facets of my personality: a big red bindi and a large green handbag. No matter what colours the rest of my ensemble may have been on any given day (unless it was a rare recourse to western wear), these two never changed. Though I hardly ever carry a handbag now, that red bindi remains, even bigger than before.
Me without a bindi would not be me, and that has less to do with my devotion to my faith and more to do with culture as it is also part of India’s traditional ‘solah shringar’ or 16 adornments. So I was naturally depressed by the news that a large Indian company — whose products now increasingly repose on my nose — had an earlier policy (post-facto called a mere ‘internal memo’) that prohibited employees wearing bindis, tilaks, and kalevas in all their stores and premises.
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Bindis, like many aspects of Indian culture, straddle a space between faith and style. When faith is an all-encompassing way of life rather than just a communion with the Almighty, such overlaps are natural. Much........