{"id":756,"date":"2012-01-05T13:25:37","date_gmt":"2012-01-05T18:25:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/omsweetom\/?p=756"},"modified":"2012-01-05T13:25:37","modified_gmt":"2012-01-05T18:25:37","slug":"hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html","title":{"rendered":"Hindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires"},"content":{"rendered":"
I recently returned from an amazing five days in sunny Buenos Aires. \u00a0Both the city and its denizens are charming, warm, and welcoming. \u00a0As my husband and I strolled through the various neighborhoods, we found that Buenos Aires magically blended the best of Paris, Barcelona, Athens, and Mumbai. \u00a0In addition to trying some fabulous bottles of Malbec and some not so fabulous \u201cFernet Branca con Coca-cola,\u201d I had the opportunity to test out the remnants of my rusty Spanish skills. \u00a0\u00a0By the end of the trip, my Spanglish was about 70% Spanish.<\/p>\n

But the real test came on our second night in the city on our way to a tango show. \u00a0I\u2019ve found that most Indians who are fluent in their native tongue – mine being Gujarati – are able to replicate the Spanish accent, especially with the simplest of words and phrases: \u201cHola!\u201d \u201cComo estas?\u201d \u201cGracias.\u201d \u00a0As our driver started the car, I said, \u201cHola! Como estas?\u201d \u00a0My seemingly native Spanish accent was met with a mile-a-minute response in Spanish from our very friendly driver. \u00a0When he saw my perplexed face in the rear-view mirror, he quickly understood I was just a poser. \u00a0But he was a gracious and chatty fellow, and I was on a quest to improve my Spanish, so he tried to speak slower while I tried to speak faster.<\/p>\n

The conversation began as all conversations with the locals there do – how do you love our city? \u00a0I managed to hold my own until we shifted gears. \u00a0Once our driver learned that we were Hindu, my Spanish skills were truly tested. \u00a0He had two questions for me:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do Hindu women wear the dot on their forehead?\u201d
\n\u201cWhy do Hindus hold the cow sacred?\u201d<\/p>\n

Having spent so much time at Hindu American Foundation<\/a> (HAF) focusing on the portrayal and image of Hinduism, I was immediately struck by the fact that even in Argentina, a country that is likely not home to many Hindus and is still not a popular tourist destination for Indians, the two things immediately associated with Hinduism were bindis<\/em> and cows. \u00a0To be clear, I wasn\u2019t offended or annoyed in the slightest – the bindi<\/em> has a beautiful symbolic meaning, and the cow holds a special place in the hearts of Hindus. \u00a0But for once, it would be nice to be asked about yoga or meditation or the deeper, philosophical aspects of Hinduism.<\/p>\n

When a 5,000-year-old way of life is overwhelmingly and only associated with colorful rituals, cows, and multiple-armed gods, something needs to change. Hinduism\u2019s image needs a massive rebranding effort. \u00a0According to the American Marketing Association<\/a>, brand image is \u201cthe perception of a brand in the minds of people…it is what people believe about a brand – their thoughts, feelings, expectations.\u201d \u00a0If all people have come to expect of Hinduism are bindis<\/em> and cows, then it\u2019s time to take a fresh approach to our image. \u00a0Hinduism needs to be re-associated with its philosophical nature – the teaching that the Divine resides in us all, the holistic practice of yoga, the innate concept of pluralism, the knowledge that this world is an interconnected family and should be treated as one. \u00a0It\u2019s beginning here in America with various Hindu leaders. \u00a0HAF, for one, has been reaching out to the media, academics, and interfaith groups for years in an effort to share this side of Hinduism. \u00a0But its clear that the Hindu community at large needs to take a bigger role in rebranding the image of Hinduism.<\/p>\n

I should also point out that our driver was clearly astute and knowledgeable. \u00a0He never once confused Hindu with Hindi – a common and irritating mistake made by countless highly educated individuals that I\u2019ve come across, i.e. \u201cDo you speak Hindu? Are you Hindi?\u201d \u00a0After I confirmed that he correctly guessed my Indian background, he laughingly said, \u201cPhew…because the Pakistanis don\u2019t like it when we confuse them for Indian. \u00a0They say \u2018No! No! No! We are Pakistani!\u2019\u201d \u00a0So, if my learned driver immediately associated Hinduism with bindis and cows, what are the less knowledgeable in the country thinking?<\/p>\n

Finally, perhaps I shouldn\u2019t have been so surprised by the curiosity behind the sacred cow, since beef is a staple of the Argentinian diet. \u00a0And it was actually the easier of the two questions to answer since I knew enough Spanish to convey the importance of a purely grass-eating animal that provides us with milk. \u00a0Comically enough, I even managed a slightly garbled explanation of how cow dung is used to keep Indian village homes cooler in the scorching summer heat. \u00a0Our driver understood what I was saying…but I\u2019m pretty sure it didn\u2019t convince him to give up his steak.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently returned from an amazing five days in sunny Buenos Aires. \u00a0Both the city and its denizens are charming, warm, and welcoming. \u00a0As my husband and I strolled through the various neighborhoods, we found that Buenos Aires magically blended the best of Paris, Barcelona, Athens, and Mumbai. \u00a0In addition to trying some fabulous bottles…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":390,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-day-in-the-life","category-humor"],"yoast_head":"\nHindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires - Om Sweet Om<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires - Om Sweet Om\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently returned from an amazing five days in sunny Buenos Aires. \u00a0Both the city and its denizens are charming, warm, and welcoming. \u00a0As my husband and I strolled through the various neighborhoods, we found that Buenos Aires magically blended the best of Paris, Barcelona, Athens, and Mumbai. \u00a0In addition to trying some fabulous bottles…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Om Sweet Om\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-01-05T18:25:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sheetal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires - Om Sweet Om","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires - Om Sweet Om","og_description":"I recently returned from an amazing five days in sunny Buenos Aires. \u00a0Both the city and its denizens are charming, warm, and welcoming. \u00a0As my husband and I strolled through the various neighborhoods, we found that Buenos Aires magically blended the best of Paris, Barcelona, Athens, and Mumbai. \u00a0In addition to trying some fabulous bottles…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html","og_site_name":"Om Sweet Om","article_published_time":"2012-01-05T18:25:37+00:00","author":"sheetal","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html","name":"Hindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires - Om Sweet Om","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-01-05T18:25:37+00:00","dateModified":"2012-01-05T18:25:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/#\/schema\/person\/892f83fe41e8ba0b2d625fb00436cec8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2012\/01\/hindus-bindis-and-cows-in-a-car-in-buenos-aires.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hindus, bindis, and cows in a car in Buenos Aires"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/","name":"Om Sweet Om","description":"Beliefnet Voices - Sheetal Shah","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/#\/schema\/person\/892f83fe41e8ba0b2d625fb00436cec8","name":"sheetal","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b81\/b81e39bd8aa137041bf8c5f1ece2d99fx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/b81\/b81e39bd8aa137041bf8c5f1ece2d99fx96.jpg","caption":"sheetal"},"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/author\/sheetal"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/390"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=756"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":757,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/756\/revisions\/757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}