Apu’s World

unsolicited gyaan comes along easy
also your kid( specially 4 yr old girls) will want to wear it when u don it on some rare ocassion

I agree Apu. And it’s a good idea to write a post in response to the keywords/questions that made a reader land on your blog.

It helps strengthen your neck muscles. It is all in the vedas. Didn’t you know??
Btw I googled that same keyword and landed on this thread and was pretty stunned at the length of the discussions and the nature of some opinions! http://www.citehr.com/182100-mangalsutra-issue-hr-policy.html

This is a fab idea…the crazy search terms that make people land on our blogs!

I’ve become braver about not wearing it sometimes, but there is a definite ‘protection’ from creeps to some extent. The stares/wolf-whistles/lewd song-singing are much less when the black beads are visible. As emancipated as I consider myself, sometimes I’m so tired of the ‘eve-teasing’, this is easier. Making a statement takes a lot of energy!

All the same, another problem I have with the mangalsutra, is why don’t men wear it? My hubby has worn mine a couple of times, once when I was having a neck rash, and it felt unsafe to pop it into my handbag, my brother-in-law was horrified like it was bad luck or something and another time in a shop when we were getting it re-done, he wore it to show me how it looks, the entire shop almost passed out with disapproval.

I am going to send this link to my hubby!!

MIL is paranoid about wearing the Mangalsutra and i avoid it when she is not around..;)

In my opinion,this has no relevance,except it is a piece of jewellery.
If it was effective, I am sure the men would have started to wear one.

Good response

tell me about it… the after effects of family is sometimes funny… me too, dont wear it, when the stakeholders are not around heheh… so imagine my tension, when I forgot it, the first time i went to visit relatives so, it was all collared shirts and open hair…hehehh

but then, pls,”no effects” per se… and how much do you hate, “mrs”??
i still have not got used to it!

@Vidya

Too good Vidya it is definitely good for only women’s neck muscles LOL

Hi
Came to your blog through IHM’s. Glad I discovered it. will be reading all your posts and will add you to blogrole. I stopped wearing mangalsutra the day I found that it was binding me to customs and orthodox beliefs to which I do not subscribe. I have better things to put around neck. thanks for the post.

These days the taali does not hang on the traditional yellow thread but like a pendant on a gold chain. The thirumangalyam is tucked into a blouse. So how would one know if one is wearing a pendant or taali and what kind of protection does it offer?i wear mine because I am used to it and it feels funny when I don’t. but I have no problem when my daughters remove it for whatever reason. The same would apply to my daughter in law whenever she arrives. A man’s life certainly does not hang on it. till sometime back women did not utter their husband’s name since it would shorten their lifespan. It is now a thing of the past and I call my sons in law by name - something that my mother would never have done. so i think with time this too shall change and the furore it now seems to cause will die down.

Tiku - thanks for dropping by and for your comment.

Padma-ji - True; I guess those who wear black bead mangalsutras may feel like they offer some protection, though my view is that the sleazeballs who molest women do not really discriminate!

I did not know that this was the reason for not calling the husband by name..and yes, the ridiculous amount of “respect” given to the son-in-law, good that this is slowly changing…

You are tagged. please take it up.

Award Awaiting

The wearing of the Mangal Sutra doesl eave some vinbrations.

Not just for the neck muscles, but it helps on the inert aspects as well.

These days, you can make thin chains for mangal sutras which makes it all the more comfortable.

Ridiculous!! You could arrive at such a conclusion. D’ya think that women wore mangal sutras simply because they were worried over what would happen to their husbands, if otherwise..!! Shame on u!!

Our women now, have all. They have their minds in place, heart in place. They still tend to wear..

This post shows your ignorance with regard to the Vedas..

Padmaji/R’s mom - thanks. will go have a look.

Asmita - before resorting to rather rude ’shame on you’ etc, you might want to tell me (and other interested readers)about the proof of these vibrations and also, how they help the “inert aspects”. (and - I don’t see the need to be ashamed about ignorance of the Vedas - it’s not mandatory, you know, contrary to what you may think.)

hellooooo every1!!!
m glad 2 c so many women so against n rather open-minded abt dis issue. :-)) me too against it.actually.m husbandz fine wid it.he doznt ‘dare’2 force me 2 get into such things.i say dare coz u need 2 b firm abt ur pinion n thinkin.women r always suppressed arond d world nt jst india.as mine is a luv marriage m mr com4tabl wid myslf as i dnt really undrstnd hw can a woman-man share d bed on d 1st nite wid a strangr!! abt d ornament,y do men dnt hv such implications 4m society.a ring in a finger?is dat enuf?hats off 2 women who r in conservative families n stl think dis +ve n 4 genxt too..lol.tk cr.. God bless…..

Interesting post.
I think basically you have to do anything only if you feel like it or if you believe in it, and not because someone else insists on it.

Having said that, I believe every so called marriage symbol has scientific reasons and explanations….which over a period of time has just been forgotten and not passed on.

The toe ring that women wear after marriage is a point that directly connects to the uterus, wearing toe ring kept the garbhakosh healthy and prevented a lot of gynecological ( and sexual) problems….hence it is insisted to be worn only after marriage..

The kumkum and the sindoor similarly are points of self control..those regions are aslo the points of heat dissipation in the body, hence it is kept cool and covered for women ( and men too, men wore tilak or ash or sandalwood paste)

…I will agree on the earlier post that the neck has something like that, I do not know but I will find out and comment on that …

It is very easy to dismiss off ancient customs as superstitions, tehre are a lot of superstitious beliefs I agree, but they became superstitions only because just to enforce it on the younger people they instilled some fear about it….every custom therefore has a fear associated with it….which does not take away the actual idea behind that custom, it is upto us the younger generation to re-discover those meanings ( if any) instead of laughing at them…

Btw, the only jewelry I wear on my body is the mangalsutra…not becos I fear family or think something will happen to hubby….but its for the love I have for my husband…and for the pride I take in being married and displaying the symbol associated with it

In the west, people even get divorced if they forget to wear their symbol of marriage, the ring

My friend joined an MNC BPO some 6 months back and since then she has stopped wearing her mangalsutra , toe rings and sindhoor as she feels uncomfortable wearing all these with her usual office wear such as formal shirts , t-shirts , jeans etc.. Her husband is also ok with this…

However , she does wear all these while visiting her in-laws / parents and during festivals.. Seems it all depends on the individual / family beliefs…..

I work in a MNC and frequently meet US customers twice or thrice a week, during these days , I usually dress in formal shirt , pants and akirts..I take off my mangalsutra , toe rings and sindhoor as it does not go with these dresses. I do leave on my nose ring though..

I have yet not told this to my husband , maybe will someday…

I work in sales and my job involves travelling within India. Maritial status seems to make some difference to the assignments being given to us.. So I have not disclosed in my company that I got married six months back….

Of course the downside is that I cannot wear my mangalsutra or sindhoor to work and while on assignments… Sometimes I need to go to trips , outings and parties with just my male colleagues and I get lot of flirting etc….. I am now planning to quit and join elsewhere..

But I dont think that its wrong to not wear mangalsutra if your are comfortable with yourself and your beliefs.

I fall on the traditional side; not that I think some weird supernatural force will effect you necessarily but there are usually good reasons for traditions that evolved over thousands of years and I don’t expect to possess that much knowledge in my short lifetime.

@asmita
If it does leave some vibrations or is good for health then why only married women get to wear it? don’t those vibrations that come off the thalis/mangalsutras benefit unmarried/single/divorced/widowed women? what about places in India where wearing mangalsutra as a symbol or demostration of marriage isn’t the norm? Are womenfolk from those culture at some disadvantage?