I got the bracelet in India. I thought the 50-rupee red string bracelet (75 cents) would adorn my wrist nicely as a reminder of my trip. Photos could only depict so much, and my memory tends to fade. The bracelet was a rich reminder of the people whose lives I entered briefly and the mark they made on mine. I also figured I deserved to buy myself something special since the end of my trip was a flurry of buying gifts that would suffice for the consumerist nature of the holiday season back in America.
Symbolism is deeply interwoven into everyday life in India. Houses are often decorated with orange marigolds, tiny temples line roads, and a reverence for nature is felt in the air. When there is a god in essentially everything, it is easy to understand why acts of devotion are pervasive. For Hindus, the red string bracelet is another abstraction of faith, loyalty, and blessings.
I stepped into the realm of Hindu practice and its manifestation in everyday life. I witnessed its power over followers as they made treks to temples, performed fire sacrifices, and danced with Shiva. India and Hinduism have shown me a world dictated by a different set of gods. It is difficult to see caste and class play such an important role in everyday life and politics, knowing that its basis is from a Vedic text dating thousands of years ago. This seemingly “turned back” on reason is hard to grasp when some of its social effects are so harsh.
However, living in a world of symbolism and religion for a short amount of time cast new light on my own religious background. Being raised a “‘lax-Catholic,” I have seen and experienced a religion that has its own set of dogmatic standards and laws. I have drunk the “blood of Christ” and worn my white virginal dress to communion. I was told a lie that my love for God would save me from condemnation in hell. The logic seemed to be: “if God says you jump, then you jump.” Uneasy with the way God was supposed to dictate my actions and the fatalism that was ruling my life, I abandoned this belief. What world do we live in, where human action is based from a set of divine supernatural powers instead of rationality?
I have given my red bracelet symbolic meaning. I guess I too have succumbed to making meaning out of this world in my own way, as many do with religion. This bracelet is not in fact a sign of devotion, but rather a reminder of my experience abroad. Religion has offered me nothing but an illogical way of understanding the world. Instead, I look at my bracelet as a reminder of my real lived experience, rather than a supernatural force guiding the world.
Junior studying Public Health. Passionate about cultivating meaningful relationships. Attempting to make time for naps. Probably drinking too much caffeine.
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