India has always been a fascination to me. It is such a huge country with so many layers to it. There are many different cultures and customs. I think that’s what motivated me to write about a bollywood movie. I love bollywood (although I haven’t watched any recent ones). Anyways my learning about culture series is a way for me to answer my own questions about what I see in movies or shows. And hopefully at the same time, I answer questions that others have as well.
Puja
Puja is a prayer ritual performed by Hindus. It is used to worship one or more of the deities, to host or honor a guest, to spiritually celebrate an event, or even to honor someone after death. The word pūjā comes from Sanskrit meaning reverence, honor, adoration and worship. Puja is not mandatory in Hindu and the way it is performed varies. Probably because Indian is such a big country and that there are several deities in Hindu.
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Kicking over a Bowl of Rice
In the movie, Sameer’s mom comes to visit. After discussion and enlightenment, she finally accepts her son as he is. She has Kunal kick over a bowl of rice in the doorway. I wondered why and did a little research. When a bride enters the groom’s house for the first time, she gently pushes over a pot filled with rice with her right foot. She pushes it into the home. It is believed that the wife is the goddess Laxmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity) since women typically manage the home affairs. The purpose is that the goddess Laxmi will enter the home bring forth prosperity and when the pot of rice is filled it equals overflowing abundance. It sounds good to me!
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Karva Chauth
I was watching this on my computer and could not get that black thing to go down. Sorry.
Karva Chauth fast is a one day fast observe by married Hindu women. The women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and the longevity of their husbands. This is typically done by Hindus who live in northern India. During the fast, the women do no housework (sounds good to me). The women get together apply henna on each other. In some areas, it is custom to exchange painted pots, ‘karva’, filled with bangles, ribbons, homemade candies, cosmetics, and small clothes items with other women fasting.
In the evening of the fast, a women-only ceremony is held. The women dress up in fine clothing and jewelry and a storyteller tells the story of Karva Chauth. And the women do a puja. Near the end, the fera ceremony takes place. The women are near their husbands with a pot of water. Water is offered to the moon. Then the women face their husbands (and sometimes say a prayer) and he offers her water and feeds her something sweet (typically)
At first, I did think this was a sexist type holiday. Like Blah! Why celebrate men more!? But the more I read about it, the more it seemed to be:
- For the women. I like the idea of community and I like that the women get together to make the fast easier. It sounds like they have a fun time together. And no housework=heaven.
- Romantic: I think it’s romantic for her to starve for her man and for him to give her her first food of the day.
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Indian Gestures
India seems like one of the countries with several hand gestures. There are quite a few gestures that I noticed from the movie that I wanted to know what they mean. So I went on YouTube in search of answers. The following video is one of many that I found:
Desi
In Dostana, the title of one of the songs is Desi Girl. I hadn’t heard the term before this song. I never looked up the term either. Desi is a person of Indian, Pakinstani, or Bangladeshi birth or descent who lives abroad.
Indian Makeup
I just added this because I wanted to share a video I watched about Indian makeup. But after searching up make up tutorials, I found a lot of different ones. Here is one that I choose (it almost looks the same as Priyanka, right?):
I don’t wear makeup, but I almost want to attempt to do this one. The thing I like about this is the emphasis on the eyes. When I used to wear makeup regularly, I wore eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss.
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Which of these things are most interesting to you?
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