a feel of india

this morning, Mrs. S hopped-in on our company bus wearing a nice striped yellow traditional dress for Indian women called Salwar kameez. and upon seeing her jewelries and bangles? Wow! all matching with the yellow golden color of her dress. including the bindi.


she asked me if i want to try putting a bindi on my forehead and i was a bit apprehensive about it since i don't want curious eyes to question me in our workplace. but anyhows, Mrs. S managed to pull out one long golden bindi from her purse and put it on my forehead. Mr. Sj approved of it as he thinks it's cute and pretty in me. but the other indian guy, Mr. B, argued that it's better if i have the round one with black color because the gold one won't be visible in a distance of 5 meters. anyhows, they still liked it and even took pictures of me to show it off with our officemates.


*shame*

i looked at myself in the mirror and i have admitted to myself that it really looks nice. but since the golden color complements my skin, it's almost unnoticeable.

some of my officemates actually took second glances when they noticed i was wearing bindi.

i took it off after lunch and decorated my puncher with it. :)

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bindi is a decoration applied on the center of women's two eyebrows. they have varying colors which you can match with your colorful Salwar kameez. they also have varying sizes and designs. you can have the bead-like, the plain ones or the studs. anyone can pretty much use the bindi as a fashion statement, unlike before when it's only meant to symbolize a woman being married or sometimes, as part of a religious affiliation or ceremony. [Source][picture]

Salwar Kameez [Source]

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Update: according to my Hindu officemate, the red round bindi symbolizes that your husband is still alive. if you're a widow, you only wear the black round bindi. she also said that there's a nerve in between the two eyebrows and so the bindi serves a protection from anything harmful. in addition to the bindi, Hindu married women also put red powder on their forehead where the hair parts. that red powder is called kumkum.

Princess

writing a review about the book titled Princess by Jean Sasson gave me second, third and so on thoughts for i'm not so sure how safe it is to post something so controversial and sensitive. i've got two important reasons for this.

firstly, a lot of controversies were raised upon the publication of this book. mainly because it was written in the perspective of a Saudi royal princess. as written on its book cover: "The True Story of Life Inside Saudi Arabia's Royal Family", it sure is very catchy especially on people who wants a glimpse of how a Saudi royalty lives her life. being a member of the royalty surely makes your life a glamorous one, as we commonly perceive with England's queen, princes and princesses. but hey, this is Saudi and that makes it a different story.

secondly, the book reveals sensitive issues on human rights, most especially, women in Saudi. it was difficult for me reading the book and absorbing its content at the same time. there are times that i doubt what were written in the book and that exaggerations were put into it. it was emotionally bothering for me that on that part of the world, women were treated like they are are just for "procreation" purposes. i know this is quite exaggerating but below are some facts i found. this text was provided for by Jean Sasson on her book as part of Appendix A: The Laws of Saudi Arabia. the same text i found at wikipedia regarding Saudi women's human rights.

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i am not a feminist or a member of such group but since i have grown up in a democratic country and on a different religion orientation, i sure want to defend women's rights. this is truly a sensitive issue in a very strict Muslim country but it somehow concerns the whole world. i cannot say that all women in this country or all Muslim women are living like this but they are surely defenseless.

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Princess mostly depicted the hunger for a fatherly love of a young girl, her great envy for her brother Ali, and her most sought-after freedom of women from the bondage of their old traditions. she had devoted most of her time fighting against the will of the men in her household. but nevertheless, loves them.

there are times that i would laugh out loud from her mischievous antics with her brother Ali. and at the same time, i feel sad that such things happen in a family, like her father being indifferent to her, who is supposed to promote a union of harmony and love in their home.

i am glad that she still found a man whom she thinks can be instrumental in realizing her dream: that their society would find the worth of their women. still, her struggles has not brought much change in their society.

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i am currently reading Daughters of Arabia which is the sequel of Princess. i have yet to see if there were changes on women's status after Princess got published.

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Useful Links:

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia Human Rights

Women of Saudi Arabia