Stigmatized Symbolism

It still surprises me how a simple, equilateral cross can shock me so much. This design that is regarded by Hindus as auspicious first appeared in India during the neolithic period. The symbol spread throughout the world, showing up with ancient Greeks, with Vikings, and even with Navajo tribes. While it's name even once meant a "lucky object", the image carries now with it a very different connotation among westerners. I am talking about the swastika.

Growing up in the West, I was inculcated with horrific stories about Nazis terrorizing innocent people: all under a red flag with a black swastika. Of course here in Chennai memory of the symbol reaches much further back than the twentieth century. When an Indian walks down the street with shop signs proudly displaying the swastika he thinks nothing of it. When I walk down the very same street I am startled by images my mind automatically ties to the same design. That is one unabashedly American response that I am not likely to change no matter how long I live here.

-Abbie