Welcome...and initial guidelines...

This blog will be used in the spring of 2008 by 80+ students at Drexel University to investigate the effects of Iraq on culture and the reverse. Our goal will be to better understand why the US is in Iraq, and to question whether literature can help us on this journey.

Weekly plans and other materials will always be posted in Vista, not this blog. So go to Bb Vista to get the discussion prompts and other instructions.

I intend this blog to manage our discussions and track our collective investigation.

You should have received an email from me inviting you to become a contributor to this blog. The email was sent Monday afternoon to your official Drexel email address.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

I'M A DOT HEAD!

Ha if you didn't get it from my title, I'm Indian and one of the most famous beliefs here is that all Indian people wear dots on their heads. While it's true that we do wear dots, it's not something worn everyday by men. The red dot, bindi, is normally worn on special occasions such as marriages or religious occasions. Women traditionally, after marriage, wear them everyday. I've been asked many questions throughout my life about it's significance. Is it blood? Do you have to wear it everyday? Will your millions of 8 armed gods strike you with lightning if you don't wear it? Yes, believe it or not, but I've gotten them all.
It seems there are many misconceptions about India. Also another popular misconception is that cows are treated as gods. While cows are holy, they're treated not holier than cows here. Actually, cows here get treated better than there. There are small villages in India where they are literally worshiped. Some of you may have seen the Ripley's Believe it or Not where the people in the village drink cow urine and bathe with it. Yea, that's definitely not me, or the vast majority of India. Those are small secluded villages doing their own thing. This is not at all a common practice.

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