ABSTRACT

“We should expect the orifices of the body to symbolize its specially vulnerable points,” notes Mary Douglas (1966, p. 121). In the Hindu context, all liquid excretions — sweat, saliva, semen, blood, especially menstrual blood, excrement — but also hair, fingernails, and toenails, can indeed be polluting if someone else comes in contact with them. Thus, touch and pollution are intrinsically linked in India. As a consequence, bodily contact between people who are not of the same age, gender, family, sub-caste, or status group is often avoided. Until recently, social kissing, for instance, was not allowed, and it is still taboo among the more traditional groups. It is still not fully accepted even among the middle class:

Not so long ago, kissing was regarded as a disgusting western habit (like taking tub baths, or using toilet paper instead of a lota), violating our deeply ingrained taboos about chhua-chhoot and personal hygiene, and blamed for spreading viruses, pimples and other infections. Remember the time it was banned in Bollywood and other regional films? In romantic scenes, censors allowed the kiss only through coy suggestion — usually depicted through a butterfly alighting on a flower, or two blossoms bending towards each other. Until the early ’90s, for most Indians kissing was an intimate act, not for public display unless you were kissing babies and chubby-cheeked kids. Acquaintances were greeted with a namaste, handshake or just a smile; friends with a hi or, if you were seeing them after a long time, a hug (Mehta 1990).