I had recently gone to a Bengali family party, and was sitting on the floor talking to an older auntie type, when I noticed she had something gold in her nose. I asked her what it was, and with a little pull here and there, she pulled out a punk-rock style gold septum ring. A little shocking, since as a desi girl I was more familiar with the more traditional nose piercings, but not the septum style. She continued by telling the story of how she got it as a girl, and and how the piercing was supposed to bring shanti on her husband- basically (what I garnered from my poor Bengali) anytime she exhaled, she would be bringing good luck on her mate.
Nose piercing was first recorded in the Middle East approximately 4,000 years ago… Nose piercing was bought to India in the 16th Century from the Middle East by the Moghul emperors. In India a stud (Phul) or a ring (Nath) is usually worn in the left nostril, It is sometimes joined to the ear by a chain, and in some places both nostrils are pierced. The left side is the most common to be pierced in India, because that is the spot associated in Ayuvedra (Indian medicine) with the female reproductive organs, the piercing is supposed to make childbirth easier and lessen period pain.[link]
The septum piercing that this auntie had is the second most popular piercing next to ear-piercings and even more popular than the traditional nose piercings.
The piercing is also popular in India, Nepal, and Tibet, a pendant “Bulak” is worn, and some examples are so large as to prevent the person being able to eat, the jewellery has to be lifted up during meals. In Rajasthan in Himachal Pradesh these Bulak are particularly elaborate, and extremely large.[link]
See mom, body piercings are a part of our culture! That line of reasoning didn’t quite fly as well when I presented it to her after I got mine. I personally opted for the chin-piercing better known as the labret back when I turned 22.
The term “labret” is Latin in origin, from labrum meaning “lip” and is pronounced “lah-bret.” It is the modern, umbrella term for all piercings around the opening of the mouth. [link]Until the late 19th century, the Eskimo of Alaska defined social status among groups by lip piercing. Eskimo women usually wore only one central lip-plug as decoration; however, the highborn Tlingit girls wore a labret to indicate their noble social status.[link]
I was scared of my folks and was able to keep it a secret from them for six months- that is until I had to fly back to see them for their wedding anniversary. Surprisingly, they didn’t say anything much about it, and I think after 3 years my dad still hasn’t noticed it. There was an added benefit to it as well- once the aunties and uncles saw that piece of metal on my chin, suddenly the comments from them of “There’s a nice engineering boy in Oklahoma that’s looking to get married,” came to a sudden stop.
I don’t even notice it anymore but one of my favorite stories is when I was in Ahmedabad, Gujarat volunteering at Manav Sadhna playing with with the children from the local slum who were there for Saturday school.
A group of girls ages 7 and under ran up to us. After smiling, this one girl, obviously the leader in the group with long light hair in a green outfit, points to my chin piercing. She whispers amongst her girls looking at it. “doesn’t it hurt?” she asks in Hindi. I point back at her nose, which has a piercing (though not jewels, but a stick to keep the hole open) and ask her in English, “doesn’t it hurt?” She giggles, and starts conspiring with her friends. She grabs my hand and we go running through the grounds…
Who would have known that a simple piercing could serve to create that kind of a connection? Ok, ok, I promise I’ll take it out. That is, when I grow up.
