Indian shoe/feet culture

Saw an interesting post from Kiruba about the new Levi’s footwear and a promotional poster gone wrong (atleast for Kiruba).

Reading this, I thought I’d draw up a ‘Indian Shoe/Feet culture 101′, from whatever I’ve seen and experienced. Of course, most of this is specific to the Hindu religion and maybe even skewed towards the brahmin culture, given my roots. And, of course, this also does not mean that everybody in India follows these…

• In most south Indian homes (especially the brahmins), one has to remove the footwear before entering the home (especially when visiting others’ homes). This is not so widely practiced in north India.
• If you’re entering some place (house/business/temple/etc.), especially for the first time or for an important occassion/event, one has to put the right forward. Especially true for when, after getting married, the couple enter their home for the first time. The girl enters first, and usually she would kick something (what gets kicked, differs from community to community within the country…but it could be a pot of rice, pot of some liquid, etc.), to start things off on a good note.
• As mentioned in Kiruba’s post, in India, money is associated with Goddess Lakshmi. And most hindu people wouldn’t like the thought of money being kept in one’s shoe. It’s considered disrespectful.
  • Here’s an aside about money culture…

Wikipedia says, “Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped by those who wish to acquire or to preserve wealth. It is believed that Lakshmi (wealth) goes only to those houses which are clean and where the people are hardworking. She does not visit the places which are unclean/dirty or where the people are lazy.”

I see it manifests in other ways as well. It’s like one has to worship and respect money; only then does one get money. Even till date, if some money falls on the ground or I accidentally step on some money, I hold the money to the eyes for a moment (boy, this one’s tough to explain). It’s a way of apologizing or repenting, I guess.

• And, of course, the widely followed practice of touching elders’ feet to take their blessing. In norther parts of India, this is followed almost everyday, as you come in contact with your elders at home (not at work). But, in south India, it’s usually done only on special occassions/festivals/events, like a wedding or an anniversary.

• This is something I’ve heard somewhere…not sure how true/valid it is — apparently, as per Hindu beliefs from several thousand years ago, the flow of energy into the body is from the top to the bottom…from the head through the body downwards and out of the body from the feet and hands. When one touches somebody’s feet to take their blessing, the “blesser” (!) places their hands on the head of the “blessie” (sorry for the unavoidable, corny way of explaining this!). So, as per this theory (of energy flowing through the body), energy is transferred from one person to the other by touching somebody’s feet. So it’s not just about paying respects to your elders…though that’s the reason why everybody does it.

More as I remember other shoe/feet practices. If you know of any I’ve missed, please do comment in.

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