I would like to share with you a tale of travel and adventure.  The story of my double nostril piercing in India. 

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After facing harmless yet daily harassment and countless requests for photo ops on my first journey through India, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and get a double nose piercing, both left and right sides.  

At first, this may not seem like the most intuitive move, but in India having both sides of the nose pierced sends a message!

 In India a stud called Phul or a ring known as Nath is usually worn in the left nose, this is one way Hindus honor Parvathi, the goddess of marriage. The left side signifies the feminine and piercing this side historically connotes a docile and devoted wife and mother.  BOTH sides pierced however has a feeling of a magical being, embodying both masculine (shiva) and feminine (shakti) energy in their body.  

I figured that it was worth a try to send a message... Plus the balance of spiritual energies in my body was appealing as well.  

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I was very nervous about finding a good establishment to get a piercing, as I did not want to risk infection.  In my searching learned that sometimes women in India now use lasers to pierce their noses to avoid scarring and infection.  The fees for such piercing were a bit rich for my blood, so I decided to search online to find somewhere within a day's travel with a professional web appearance.  

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Finding such a site, we traveled to Haridwar with piercings as part of the plan.  I searched the streets high and low, attempting to find the address on the website.  

Eventually, my local friend who was assisting in my quest found the address in a back ally, and it was a home under construction.  We rang the bell and were eagerly greeted from an open window above.  

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The girl who greeted us led us through a throng of construction workers and to the side of the room.  She said YES! that they would love to do it and put in a call to the piercer.  A goodly number of other family members and onlookers were also called to attendance.  

Contrary to what I thought I was anticipating, a man arrived with a semi rusty needle in a box in his pocket.  Having come thus far, I glanced questioningly at my local friend before giving the go ahead.  

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This piercing did definitely impact my experience on my second journey in India, and if I do say so myself, I think it has helped me to balance my female and masculine energies!  It also has changed me over from a silver girl into a golden girl, and has become part of my adornment I will likely wear for life.   

I have so much gratitude to this family for helping me realize this experience.  Part of my heart is in India for the rest of my life, and I think about it every day.  I am grateful to have a lifelong momento and the memories of this adventure.