Why the bindi controversy is not spot-on

Amid the kerfuffle over two advertisements, one with the model not wearing a bindi and the other with models wearing them—one important fact has been ignored: it is not an exclusively Hindu religious mark but an Indian cultural symbol. The bindi is not restricted to Hindu women; many Indians wear it as part of the traditional shringar (toilette or adornment) of this subcontinent, which has no particular religious connotation whatsoever. In north India, the bindi is a mark of married women, with single girls actually in some communities actually forbidden from wearing them lest they never get married later on! In the south, the bindi—pottu—is worn by females of all ages whether single or married. Schoolgirls can be seen wearing at least a little black dot along with their regular school uniforms. They even wear a pottu when clad in Western clothes as it is part of their persona. For a group based in south India to release an advertisement featuring a woman without a pottu although clad in one of their classic silk sarees was plain stupid. Whoever created it laboured under the delusion that a bindi would make the ad community specific and therefore eliminated it to appeal to a “wider” (non-denominational) audience. Whoever cleared the advertisement from the company obviously also bought into this uninformed logic. Of course, Nalli is not the first brand to draw flak for a “bindiless” ad: in 2021 fashion designer Sabyasachi unveiled his jewellery collection during the festival season with bare-faced, unsmiling models. Ironically, Sabyasachi has been one of those Indian designers who has invariably incorporated the bindi in his “look”, especially for brides, including in his controversial mangalsutra ad which was criticised for its scantily clad, plus-size model. He was trolled heavily for his glum jewellery ad as well but, significantly, did not retract the commercial or follow it up with another ad featuring “bindified” models. The difference in reactions by Nalli and Sabyasachi can be attributed to the very distinct markets each of them target. Sabyasachi’s niche, uber-elite, cosmopolitan clientele would not mind the bindi omission, but Nalli’s far larger, more traditional middle class market just might. Not surprisingly, the hashtag #NoBindiNoBusiness against Nalli began trending on social media, highlighting the deracination vs ignorance aspect of this controversy. Those who protested that the lack of a bindi in the first Nalli ad was an affront to the Hindu majority were as misinformed as those who created and commissioned it. And if the bindi was included in the second ad just to “appease” a supposed Hindu majority, that was equally ridiculous. The bindi is as universally Indian and secular as the saree, as women of all faiths wear it as a typically desi accessory. Margaret Alva, a Christian from Mangalore, is a very well-known political figure in India. She has always proudly worn a bindi. Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s wedding photo shows her wearing a bindi too. And actor-turned politician Khushboo Sundar is one of many Indian Muslim women who wear a bindi simply as a beauty accessory. In Bangladesh, an overwhelmingly Muslim country, the bindi remains an essential part of traditional make-up for women, even during nikaah (wedding) ceremonies. Recent reports of women—Muslim and Hindu— being assaulted in that country now for wearing bindis shows that the epidemic of ignorance, fanned by fundamentalist ignorance has spread there too. But the women there have stood their ground and continue wearing the “teep”. Even in Pakistan, the bindi can still be seen in the Sindh region where Muslim women put a black kohl (kajal) dot on their foreheads and chins, and sometimes three dots at the corners of their eyes as well, to protect against the evil eye. And many Indonesian women wear bindis, especially during weddings, irrespective of their faith. Bindis are clearly more a cultural marker than a religious one and wearing them (or not) should be a matter of choice. After the initial innovation of liquid bindis and multicoloured ‘kumkum powder’ that could be put on foreheads with just a pre-application of petroleum jelly to ensure they adhere, the advent of the stick-on felt bindi towards the end of the 20th century revolutionised bindi-wearing. Available in a myriad of shapes, colours and intricacy, there are bindis for every preference and all occasions and have become a great equaliser as all classes wear them. Bigger coin-sized bindis right down to tiny ones have all had peaks and troughs in popularity. There are also regional preferences: Bengali women are said to prefer larger teeps, mostly in shades of red and maroon while in the north smaller bindis reign. South India loves both when it comes to pottus. Even the positions of bindis move according to fashion, from the middle of the forehead in the 1960s to right in between the eyebrows subsequently. The absence of a bindi/pottu/teep in many fashion edits these days when featuring sarees is probably linked to Western notions of perfect beauty that has no tradition of facial accessories. But in India the aesthetic is very different. Apart from the bindi marking the sixth chakra (between the eyebrows) which imbues energy and strengthens concentration, it also draws attention to what is often the Indian woman’s most captivating facial feature: her eyes. Children who attend schools where traditional Indian accessories like the bindi are not part of the uniform they wear for a large part of the day, grow up unused to them and hesitate when faced with using them later. Besides bindi, the other casualty of this unwitting deracination is the south Indian practice of girls wearing small garlands of flowers in their hair. The younger generation is increasingly chary of gajras, as they are not familiar with them. But the ferocity of the social media reaction against Nalli—albeit based on the wrong assumption that the bindi is an exclusively Hindu symbol—reiterates that the dot has its devoted adherents. It is time that India’s creative community realises how deeply the bindi is embedded in Indian sensibilities and strives to embrace this very Indian accessory and rather than exclude it because of mistaken notions of “inclusiveness” or cosmopolitanism. The author is a freelance writer. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.