lingo of my inner voice

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

a story told by the mark of cuts.

In Africa, they make tatoo designs on the face of an one-or-two year old adorable child by creating cuts with the help of a sharp knife. These rituals are carried out on a fresh fertile soil covered with new grown leaves. It is a way of showing respect and gratitude to their dead ancestors which will provide peace to their souls. The child bleeds bottles of blood, while the parents and relative see him/her participating in this tribal ritual in order to keep the tradition alive. It is a way of teaching the child that his/her life will not be like a bed of roses and nothing will come his way so easily. Parents suffer a dilemma, they are happy for the of tradition and sad for the pain which is suffered by their child. Mother then applies the extracts of leaves to soothe the pain and to heal the wounds.

Similarly when he(only for boys) enters the adolescence, similar marks are designed on his chest which witnesses that now he is a MAN. With due regards to the their traditions and feelings, I don't think that it is either the right way to teach a child how his/her life would be just because adrofins are active during this process nor it is the right price that has to be paid to be in a tribe. Again we can't judge or criticize them because this rituals project their values, mindsets and social liabilities. These marks tell the story of their tribes, maturity and experiences.

PS: NAT GEO discussed the history in TABOO

Scented Words posted by Raheel Lakhani :: 2:23 PM :: 0 Comments:

Post / Read Comments

---------------oOo---------------