Jump to content

To touch, or not to touch: that is the question

rahulrulezz

By rahulrulezz
in Chit Chat

 Share

Recommended Posts

Ram Newbie

Ram

Posted
Posted
But we do that to parents and some known elders (uncles and aunts and elders)' date=' but never on strange elders like NIs do...[/quote'] I understand that there's no right/wrong when it comes to the way anyone wants to show respect to their elders, but my personal view is that I prefer the Northie way of touching elders' feet as opposed to the southie way falling full flat on the ground.
Ram Newbie

Ram

Posted
Posted
Lol wtf happened to this thread. As someone said, it's supposedly cool among Indian to act western n make fun of our culture. Tbh this is what I love about Pakistani folks. They r not ashamed of Their culture n their religion unlike most modern Indian Hindus n Muslims
By definition, a person's belief systems (whether it be cultural or religious) are meant to be hidden deep inside their self and not something to be flaunted and worn on their sleeve. You can be a sincere follower of any belief system that you follow, without having to resort to a shouting match every time it comes up.
nikred Newbie

nikred

Posted
Posted
I understand that there's no right/wrong when it comes to the way anyone wants to show respect to their elders' date=' but my personal view is thatI prefer the Northie way of touching elders' feet as opposed to the [b']southie way falling full flat on the ground.
Seriously, who does that. :cantstop:
rahulrulezz Rookie

rahulrulezz

Posted
  • Author
Posted
By definition, a person's belief systems (whether it be cultural or religious) are meant to be hidden deep inside their self and not something to be flaunted and worn on their sleeve. You can be a sincere follower of any belief system that you follow, without having to resort to a shouting match every time it comes up.
sorry Ram I disagree with you as you are comparing apples to oranges here ... Me respecting my family elders at home or my teachers by just touching their feet (not lying on ground and kissing their feet:giggle:) is not shouting my beliefs.. I am not showing off to my friends when I am touching my dad's or nanaji's feet, I am actually doing it take their blessings and show them respect. and hows that flauting my beliefs and what will I get if someone sees me doing it.. I just don't like it when fellow Indian say that it's a stupid custom to touch anyone's feet...Just because an American, Canadian or British is not doing this, its a stupid ritual.. thats what I have problem with... I think its our cute little Indian culture of showing off respect and should not be make fun off... btw I am not advocating to touch every other random elders feet but there is nothing in touching someone's feet whom you look upto.. I love how Japanese deligations don't hesistate to bow down and say hello in work meetings(I personally have noticed every Japanese deligation doing this to me and my team at my previous workplace) and are not embarrassed of their culture.. btw they are not shouting or flaunting their culture I am glad you mentioned this a cultural belief than a religious one(I agree that one should keep religious belief to themselves to certain extent) :two_thumbs_up:
Crookbond Newbie

Crookbond

Posted
Posted
sorry Ram I disagree with you as you are comparing apples to oranges here ... Me respecting my family elders at home or my teachers by just touching their feet (not lying on ground and kissing their feet:giggle:) is not shouting my beliefs.. I am not showing off to my friends when I am touching my dad's or nanaji's feet, I am actually doing it take their blessings and show them respect. and hows that flauting my beliefs and what will I get if someone sees me doing it.. I just don't like it when fellow Indian say that it's a stupid custom to touch anyone's feet...Just because an American, Canadian or British is not doing this, its a stupid ritual.. thats what I have problem with... I think its our cute little Indian culture of showing off respect and should not be make fun off... btw I am not advocating to touch every other random elders feet but there is nothing in touching someone's feet whom you look upto.. I love how Japanese deligations don't hesistate to bow down and say hello in work meetings(I personally have noticed every Japanese deligation doing this to me and my team at my previous workplace) and are not embarrassed of their culture.. btw they are not shouting or flaunting their culture I am glad you mentioned this a cultural belief than a religious one(I agree that one should keep religious belief to themselves to certain extent) :two_thumbs_up:
Rahul, There is quite a possibility that people have realized this themselves w/o aping the west. Just because the Americans and Indians don't do it does not mean that the Indians learnt it from the Americans and vice-versa. Moreover, most people who feel about it have some kind of a rationale - it is not blind faith. As long as there is some rationale, I think we can agree to disagree. I understand you feel pious and are imbibed with great respect when you touch the feet of your elders but may be others do not feel so despite it being a ritual or culture. They may have other ways to respect elders which one should not discard. To each one his own - they are not ridiculing your gesture of feet touching but rather ridiculing the rationale behind it.
Ram Newbie

Ram

Posted
Posted
sorry Ram I disagree with you as you are comparing apples to oranges here ... Me respecting my family elders at home or my teachers by just touching their feet (not lying on ground and kissing their feet:giggle:) is not shouting my beliefs.. I am not showing off to my friends when I am touching my dad's or nanaji's feet, I am actually doing it take their blessings and show them respect. and hows that flauting my beliefs and what will I get if someone sees me doing it.. I just don't like it when fellow Indian say that it's a stupid custom to touch anyone's feet...Just because an American, Canadian or British is not doing this, its a stupid ritual.. thats what I have problem with... I think its our cute little Indian culture of showing off respect and should not be make fun off... btw I am not advocating to touch every other random elders feet but there is nothing in touching someone's feet whom you look upto.. I love how Japanese deligations don't hesistate to bow down and say hello in work meetings(I personally have noticed every Japanese deligation doing this to me and my team at my previous workplace) and are not embarrassed of their culture.. btw they are not shouting or flaunting their culture I am glad you mentioned this a cultural belief than a religious one(I agree that one should keep religious belief to themselves to certain extent) :two_thumbs_up:
Either you mis-understood what I said (or) I did not articulate myself clearly Either way, just to be clear - I am not against you touching your Dad/Nanaji's feet. In fact, I think its absolutely great that you do that. I encourage you to keep doing that. What I was alluding to, was the habit that some people have, of wearing their cultural/religious identity, on their sleeve. For example, its pretty normal to see Sadhus in India wearing saffron (or for that matter, nuns wearing their typical clothing). But can you imagine if one day you turned up to work and your friend turned up wearing all saffron, or a women attired in nun clothing? Even though they are well within their rights to do so, I personally think it creates a spectacle and serves as a distraction. And just to drive the point home - This philosophy applies to culture/religion agnostics like me as well. I maybe an unbeliever, but I have literally no business going around proselytizing my 'unbelief' to eager listeners. My point of view is my own. I am not in the business of convincing people to buy into my world view.
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...