Hygiene, Europeans and Customs.
So I was looking into Roberto De Nobili, an Italian Jesuit from the 17th century... a few things came out, but one thing in particular stuck out to me. After finally befriending a schoolmaster, he finally understood why only the Paravas or current outcastes, untouchables or those lower than commoners were converting to Christianity only.
"[The] Parangis [or foreigners who were outcaste and untouchable, lest the Hindus themselves become unclean, not, as the Portuguese thought, Tamil for "Portuguese"] were despised, the schoolmaster explained, because they ate meat, drank wine (usually to excess), bathed irregularly, wore leather shoes, and ignored the rules of social intercourse. Thus by proudly referring to themselves and their coverts as "Parangi Christians," the missionaries had unwittingly erected an insuperable barrier between themselves and the Hindus.
Besides learning of this linguistic faux pas, Roberto came to understand through the help of his mentor the significance of the caste system, namely that it was the cornerstone of all Indian society and culture. To violate it was the equivalent to threatening the divinely ordained structures of life. To the Hindus the single most important aspect about a person was his or her caste.
When the Portuguese first came to India the initial question asked about them was, to which caste do these foreigners belong? Is soon became evident, at least to the Hindus, that the Portuguese were ignorant, uncouth, unscrupulous people who were unworthy to associate with anybody except the outcastes. How else would one explain their total disregard for basic religious and social principles? No indian, it was said, who valued his rank in society or who esteemed his religious faith would ever consider adopting the ways of these foreigners. This was the reason, according to the schoolmaster, why the Hindus avoided all contact with the Portuguese except when necessary for trading purposes. For to be touched or even gazed upon by a Parangi, Roberto learned, was believed to be contaminating.
The Indians were put off by the fact that the Portugese --and apparently this applied to most Europeans except Jewish ones --bathed irregularly. Sure there were other things (and you can argue that this quite easily I'm sure), but the fact that it was even a topic I found interesting. My impression of people back in the day was that a lot of people didn't necessarily take that many baths. No easy access showers makes it harder. One of the many customs Roberto took on was bathing everyday. Now, this was interesting to me. I thought, wow the Indians are really a clean people. I'm impressed. Then I told my friend that I thought this was a funny thing, that the Indians thought that the Europeans stunk (essentially). She commented that it was actually something that the Europeans were known for... bad hygiene. Apparently Queen Victoria once admonished some natives somewhere (if someone knows the refers I'll be glad to hear it), for bathing everyday. So she told them to stop (I don't know if she had authority to make them so). Then.... wow...
Then... wow...
Then I read this article...
I mean wow...
Then my roommate told me another piece of interesting tid-bit. That the Europeans would throw out the human waste out the window of their house right on to the street. I don't know how true this is, but the fact that (as stated in the above article) they would only take a bath when ordered by a Doctor, or the fact that everyone got used to a certain level of funk... blows my mind!!! Now this is Worse Than Failure!
The final thought I had, was that it's interesting that I assumed that how the Europeans were, must have been how everyone else was. Clearly most peoples (Arabs, Indians, Jews etc) didn't necessarily feel averse to washing. So why did I think this was the normal rather than the exception? That this problem was no only part of the cause, but a continuing factor in the Black Plague of Europe (and it seems-- but I'm guessing here-- Europe alone).
--
ሰላም ዮሃንስ
"[The] Parangis [or foreigners who were outcaste and untouchable, lest the Hindus themselves become unclean, not, as the Portuguese thought, Tamil for "Portuguese"] were despised, the schoolmaster explained, because they ate meat, drank wine (usually to excess), bathed irregularly, wore leather shoes, and ignored the rules of social intercourse. Thus by proudly referring to themselves and their coverts as "Parangi Christians," the missionaries had unwittingly erected an insuperable barrier between themselves and the Hindus.
Besides learning of this linguistic faux pas, Roberto came to understand through the help of his mentor the significance of the caste system, namely that it was the cornerstone of all Indian society and culture. To violate it was the equivalent to threatening the divinely ordained structures of life. To the Hindus the single most important aspect about a person was his or her caste.
When the Portuguese first came to India the initial question asked about them was, to which caste do these foreigners belong? Is soon became evident, at least to the Hindus, that the Portuguese were ignorant, uncouth, unscrupulous people who were unworthy to associate with anybody except the outcastes. How else would one explain their total disregard for basic religious and social principles? No indian, it was said, who valued his rank in society or who esteemed his religious faith would ever consider adopting the ways of these foreigners. This was the reason, according to the schoolmaster, why the Hindus avoided all contact with the Portuguese except when necessary for trading purposes. For to be touched or even gazed upon by a Parangi, Roberto learned, was believed to be contaminating.
The Indians were put off by the fact that the Portugese --and apparently this applied to most Europeans except Jewish ones --bathed irregularly. Sure there were other things (and you can argue that this quite easily I'm sure), but the fact that it was even a topic I found interesting. My impression of people back in the day was that a lot of people didn't necessarily take that many baths. No easy access showers makes it harder. One of the many customs Roberto took on was bathing everyday. Now, this was interesting to me. I thought, wow the Indians are really a clean people. I'm impressed. Then I told my friend that I thought this was a funny thing, that the Indians thought that the Europeans stunk (essentially). She commented that it was actually something that the Europeans were known for... bad hygiene. Apparently Queen Victoria once admonished some natives somewhere (if someone knows the refers I'll be glad to hear it), for bathing everyday. So she told them to stop (I don't know if she had authority to make them so). Then.... wow...
Then... wow...
Then I read this article...
I mean wow...
Then my roommate told me another piece of interesting tid-bit. That the Europeans would throw out the human waste out the window of their house right on to the street. I don't know how true this is, but the fact that (as stated in the above article) they would only take a bath when ordered by a Doctor, or the fact that everyone got used to a certain level of funk... blows my mind!!! Now this is Worse Than Failure!
The final thought I had, was that it's interesting that I assumed that how the Europeans were, must have been how everyone else was. Clearly most peoples (Arabs, Indians, Jews etc) didn't necessarily feel averse to washing. So why did I think this was the normal rather than the exception? That this problem was no only part of the cause, but a continuing factor in the Black Plague of Europe (and it seems-- but I'm guessing here-- Europe alone).
--
ሰላም ዮሃንስ
posted by Selam at 1:47 a.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home