When I lived in New York for five years, I remember seeing a lot, a LOT of Indians. The streets smelled of curry, ALL the time, and there was a famous street called "Liberty Avenue", which was lined with shops that sold Indian dresses and other accessories. I was always surrounded by Indians, yet something that I didn't really understand, was the Hindu culture. Of course, I was young, so I didn't care to investigate it. I just saw the "OM" sign on Hindu temples and heard my Indian friends talk about it at school.
Now that I am older and about to go to India, I constantly think about the predominant religion, and all that it will signify to the people that I will be spending time with. I once heard that the more confused you are about Hinduism, the more you are beginning to understand it. I thought that was really interesting, but I am beginning to see how it is true. I didn't really know about the beginning of Hinduism, and apparently Hindus don't either...In my Tamil class, Venkat opened the lesson of Hinduism by saying "No one really knows where Hinduism came from". With that being said though, I learned that Hinduism had become such a grand part of the culture, that it was not only a religion, but just a way of life. It really mandated how things were done in this life, for Indians. What to think about, how to treat your family, how to talk, who to talk to... everything. I think that Hinduism is more than a religion that Indians participate in every week day... it is what dictates their life, and this is useful information for me, as I will be spending so much time around Hindu women.
Women have an active role in Hinduism, which I think is so interesting. The things that go on in the Temple are really important, and the women are responsible for keeping it beautiful and clean. There are many Hindu gods and goddesses, that all have different purposes, and to me, the most interesting part of that is that the central gods, all have a female partner. It just shows me how marriage between and a woman is viewed as vital. I think that there are connections between how women see and perceive themselves and their religion. So, I know that religion and the precepts therein will have a impact on how the women see themselves and carry themselves.
I know that where I am going there will be other women of other religions, such as Muslims, Jains, Christians and even Latter-day Saint women. It will be interesting to see if the perceptions of women are different because of the influence of their religion.
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