To everyone wondering what a ‘Pottu’ is, it is called the ‘Bindi’ in various parts of India. I come from the Southern part of India and to those who don’t understand why that’s significant information — it is because every state in India speaks a different language (Nope, not different dialect!). And in my state, the Bindi is called ‘Pottu’.
A Pottu is usually worn by women who follow Hinduism or Jainism. It is a dot of some color applied between the eyebrows, which in Hindu mythology is believed to ward off ‘bad luck’. The region between the eyebrows is the sixth sense, and a pottu is believed to retain energy and concentration.
The journey of a pottu from a young baby girl to an adult woman is particularly interesting, as it takes various shapes and forms. From rounds to swiggles, from red to yellow, the pottu always remains as a reflection of a woman’s artistry.
Let’s start from Day 0 of an Indian baby. Once the baby is born, the baby is washed, powdered up and the norm is to take a little kajal on your finger and apply it onto the baby in two places. One between the eyebrows, the other one goes on one of the cheeks. It is believed that, keeping black pottu on these two spots will chase away evil eyes or bad curses that loom around the new-born.
I’ve only seen the general kinds of pottu — red liquid, white liquid and basic maroon sticker pottu. But one day in school, one of my friends wore a “yellow liquid pottu” on her forehead. I was blown away!! How is that possible? Did she use paint on her face?
A trip to the store with my mother finally cleared up this puzzle. There it was, sitting on the shelf, a Multi-colored pottu palette. WHAT? So Rithu did not use paint, this sneaky girl already had the palette. My mom was nice enough to oblige and get it for me. And I remember how impatiently I was waiting to go home and try on the different colors on my face.
The artist in me took over, I was going bonkers; trying flowers, shapes of all sorts with different colors.
Next came the phase of using “Achu Pottu”. Achu Pottu is a seal stamp for your forehead. Imagine this, different intricate designs on my forehead everyday! This was enough for the 14 year old me to jump out of bed and get ready for school. I remember excitedly choosing a design I wanted everyday, and my mom would apply color on it and “seal” it onto my forehead. Boy oh boy, the perfection and the intricacy, it blew my mind away.
This is my favorite phase. The swiggles, or as I call it “snakes” on my forehead. I always gazed enviously at my older sister, while she took a black eyeliner and moved her hand at a delicate speed, and created this beautiful swiggly pottu on her forehead. I remember adoring those perfect curves, and the right size of it on her forehead while she left to school. Can you even qualify as a sister, if you dint copy exactly what your older sister did? So I did it. And as annoying as it was for her, I was now twinning with her — adorning the sexy swiggles to school.
Then the rebellious phase of my teen-hood started. For some reason, in India, wearing a pottu meant you are not “cool enough”. While my parents forced me to wear pottu everyday, I would tell them off that they didn’t know anything about fashion. Those were interesting times of my life, because I started to believe and fall into society’s expectations of looking “cool” and did not wear a pottu everyday.
I question myself about that decision even today. It’s appalling to see how society can pose these unrealistic or unwanted fashion goals on you, and you just blindly follow it. It’s hard for me accept this because I used to love wearing pottu!
On the contrary , I remember getting so excited when women from other cultures, embrace the pottu and take it up to an International platform. The sheer happiness when I saw Gwen Stefani sport a pottu on her everyday jeans and t-shirts, I thought that was badass! And the questioning began again, why is it when a foreigner wears it, its “cool” and when I wear it, it’s not? Double standards much?!
I don’t live in my country anymore, and the number of years I’ve been away from my country is directly proportional to how much I want to flaunt my rich culture. And ‘POTTU’ is a special part of that culture.
Pottu still remains an everyday routine for women in India. As I’m growing older, I’m starting to slowly appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of it.
As we all move towards the western world, and adapt ourselves to various social situations and cultures, it is very important for us to keep nourishing our roots and appreciate its purity.
An everyday routine in India becoming a one day photo moment! It definitely is a beautiful challenge to not be closed to new additions while also remaining loyal to pure traditions.
Thank you for reading!
Much love,
Akshaya