A feminist take on the Indian tradition of nose piercings

My Ammamma's (grandmother's) feminist take on nose piercings:

This morning I heard a rare raga on TV about the wearer of the nose ornament. My mind wandered back to traditional stories connected with this ornament. According to one story, sailors in distress after getting caught in a storm on the great Indian Ocean were almost shipwrecked. But they managed to reach the shore guided by the bright light of a lighthouse. On disembarking they found it was not a lighthouse, but the brilliant nose ornament of the Devi of Kanyakumari!

On a more personal note, all the ladies in my father's family wore diamonds on both sides of the nose, and some had an additional one dangling above the lip. While they were literate, they had only been formally educated up to elementary school. Some boys - like my father's father and eldest brother - had been taught that nose piercings were conducted as babies "to ward off the evil eye." My maternal grandmother wore less jewelry, her daughters had only one side pierced and wore a single diamond stud. Apart from economic reasons this might have been due to the fact that they had finished High School.

All the girls had their ears pierced usually on the first birthday - we were not given a choice. In 1946 we were in Shimla and my aunt Sellakka fixed an auspicious date to get my nose pierced - she used to do it herself! I was distinctly lacking in enthusiasm. That morning I came down with a severe allergic cold and sneezed my head off. "Poor child, already she is suffering, why do you torture her " said my uncle. And thus my nose was saved!

Later when I got engaged to husband in 1952, my in-laws added this to a list of minus points and said I should have my nose pierced. Diplomatically my father said "let us get [my husband's] opinion on this." (Excuse me - the nose was mine!) My husband replied that if I had not had it done for 20 years, it meant I was not keen about it, and he would not want to force me to do so. Thus my nose was saved once more!

Fashions change, and when grand-daughter Medha not only had several points pierced in her earlobes, but also one side of her nose, it was her own decision. Among the many rights a woman is entitled to, surely the right to do what she wants with her ears and nose is her own business. Why force anyone!

(Below are photos of my grandmother's wedding, my great grandfather's family and relatives with nose piercings)