Timeline for Will I encounter any problems as a recognizable Jew in India?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
15 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Nov 2, 2016 at 3:45 | comment | added | user33319 | @Malvolio Hitler's popularity in India comes mainly from Netaji Subhaschandra Bose (one of the most respected freedom fighters, perhaps next only to Mahatma Gandhi) escaping from British imprisonment to Berlin and receiving support from Hitler for his efforts to free India from British rule. Churchill is also quite popular in many parts of India though, despite his racist attitude towards Indians and his role in the famine of Bengal. | |
| Nov 2, 2016 at 3:36 | comment | added | user33319 | @Malvolio Yeah, if it is used for "fashion", that would be fine. But for religious purposes, the clockwise swastika standing "straight" (and its mirror image) are drawn using turmeric, saffron, sandalwood paste, vermillion or kumkum. (Where a "permanent" swastika is to be drawn, for example, to be painted on a vehicle, it is expected to use a colour close enough to one of these.) Anything else is considered defaced or impure. Local variations to the rule may exist, of course, and things outside India might be entirely different. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 18:50 | comment | added | Michael Lorton | @Casey -- not unreasonable, but I never heard anyone express that bitterness. In Mumbai, I was a regular at a restaurant called Cafe Churchill (a hamburger restaurant!) and they didn't seem to be getting any trouble from the neighbors; by comparison, in Hyderabad, I did hear people express contempt for the Nizam, the former Muslim sultan of that city, out of power for as long as Churchill. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 18:01 | comment | added | Casey | @Malvolio There's the famine and there's the fact that Germany's war with England is probably part of why the British left India. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 17:58 | comment | added | Michael Lorton | @Casey -- I don't understand Hitler's popularity, mild though it is, in India and other parts of Asia. I suppose it might be anti-British feeling, but I don't notice former British colonies being particularly bitter (compared, for example, to former French colonies) about their former masters. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 17:56 | comment | added | Michael Lorton | @MaskedMan -- Asia is a very big place. I have seen it at all angles, all colors, and both directions. Here is one in black. The only consistent rule I have found is if a swastika adorns the property of an insane murderous scumbag, it's probably (although not definitely) a Nazi swastika; otherwise it isn't. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 14:42 | comment | added | user33319 | The Hindu swastika is never drawn with a 45 degree tilt, and (as far as I know), it is also never drawn in black colour. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 13:46 | comment | added | Fiksdal | @DeepSpace This is actually not true. Check out the Wikipedia article on Swastikas and you'll notice that the Hindu and Nazi ones are both clockwise. The counterclockwise one is called a Sauwastika and is somewhat rare in Hinduism. It's more common in Buddhism. In either case, it's a beautiful symbol which has been abused, and it's quite sad really. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 12:58 | comment | added | Casey | @DeepSpace Maybe, but that's probably kind of canceled out by the enduring popularity of Hitler in India (although the meaning of that is different than it would be in Europe or the Americas). | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 11:37 | comment | added | DeepSpace | It's worth noting that the "swastikas" in Hinduism are inverted when compared to a Nazi swastika. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 10:08 | comment | added | Fattie | A good point about the swastika! Yes, it's nothing more than a symbol of "good luck" outside the European-WW2 experience. | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 9:03 | comment | added | Luaan | @Fiksdal Well, it's a symbol of the Sun. Most religions took/take the Sun pretty seriously (Abrahamic religions are probably the most significant exception) - after all, it is the "prime giver of life on Earth" :) It would be nice if we stopped being so scared of symbols... | |
| Nov 1, 2016 at 3:57 | history | edited | Michael Lorton | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Oct 31, 2016 at 22:21 | comment | added | Fiksdal | +1. It takes a while to get used to the Swastikas. And it's not just taxis. Buildings, books, temples, trucks, etc., they're everywhere. | |
| Oct 31, 2016 at 22:08 | history | answered | Michael Lorton | CC BY-SA 3.0 |