Oh, India: Swastikas

About a month after moving to Mumbai, my friend Sarah and I took a trip down to the beach state of Goa to go to a wedding. It was my first time on the train, the sun was just setting, and we were happy to be getting away for the weekend. I was mid-sentence when the people who would be sharing our berth entered and as I turned my head to greet them I came face-to-face with a giant black swastika, in a white circle, with a red border. My heart literally stopped in panic and my mind screamed, “Oh My God We’re Going to be Traveling with NAZIS!” In shock, I worriedly looked up…and into the face of a dorky, skinny, smiling Indian teenage boy wearing glasses. He wasn’t a Nazi or white supremacist at all. He was a Hindu, wearing a huge Nazi symbol on his shirt. But he was a nice person. Phew.

Of course, I had seen the swastika all over the place already. At school, one of my friends had them on her earrings. Rainbow cellophane swastika stickers adorned windows and cars. It was drawn in the borders of printed images of the Gods, and, most disturbingly, finger-painted in red on the outside of most buildings and houses. It’s one of the holiest symbols in Hinduism and it’s everywhere.

Now, for anyone who’s from the West, or who’s seen “Life is Beautiful”, or learned about Anne Frank, or who’s, um, Jewish, the prevalence of this symbol here is shocking. Don’t these crazy Hindus know about history? Haven’t they ever heard about concentration camps or that guy named Hitler? Don’t they realize that this symbol is equated with hate? They might but their answer to these questions would probably be “Well, it was our symbol first.” As Wikipedia will quickly tell you, the swastika has been a lucky and auspicious symbol for many religions and cultures all over the world for thousands of years. It was precisely because it was so valued by so many that that jerk Hitler appropriated it for himself. Yes, he turned it a little bit to the right, but more significant than his graphic design choice was how he made such a positive symbol into such a negative one. I mean, I had a truly visceral response to that huge swastika. It made me afraid. But it makes an Indian feel just the opposite: blessed and happy.

There’s a lot to be inferred here, lessons in cultural differences, history, the power of symbols. And it’s interesting that the swastika shirt boys’ friend was wearing a shirt with a row of all the symbols of the major religions-Catholic cross, star of David, the Islamic Moon, an Om-universal symbols that are positive to some, negative to others, but were co-existing equally, even if only through silkscreen. Because I’m living here I’m slowly liberating the swastika from its unfortunate place in my Western mind. I even drew a few on a little altar I made. I admit that it felt strange to do it but it also felt good to take control of my perception of something and change it. I don’t think I’ll be sporting a swastika t-shirt anytime soon, or bringing any swastika jewelry home for my Mom. But I won’t have that terrified look next time I meet one face to face. "Heil Hindus" anyone?

Here's one for the sticker album

Very special tiles for the holy Tulsi plant

Don't worry, it's red paint