How many are wearing Thali/Mangalsutra ?

Doesnt toe ring result in injuries sometime? The one week I wore it after my wedding, when i use to wear any kind of bellies or anything, it use to hurt a lot, how do you ladies manage?

 

I used to wear thali ( mangalsutra) in a thread since it is not safe in India to wear gold chain and thali. Sometimes the thread brought rashes until I changed to polyester thread and wore it daily. My gold chain was very heavy so I used to wear it very rarely.

Later after moving to my current place, I have brought a very thin gold chain and started wearing thali in that. I use bindi based on dress only.

No toe ring - since it used to hurt me while wearing shoes / socks. I prefer to wear skin colored sockes even with salwars as I don't like my leg to get dirty esp when going out in sun.

 

not sure for others. but my toe ring doesnt hurt me. mine not too big or too thin. i wear sandals most of the time, but some times closed shoe. i wear socks and sport shoes for gym, and it doesnt hurt at all.

some posters said they dont need to wear thali or mangsultra to tell the world ur marital status. but as for me, i like those things (thali, bindi, toe ring, and stuffs) only that i dont wear lots of bangles as its not comfortable when i type.

 

Chain snatching is common in todays bad economic condition.Its wise to stay away from wearing heavy thali endangering our life.My H stressed me to down size mine to avoid injuring myself in case of chain snatching.

There was one incident in which one of our distant relative got her throat badly cut during chain snatching(ICU for 15 days).From that incident my H is actually asking me to remove it altogether , or atleast remove it when i go alone.

Once while giving security tips to ladies ,a police officer referred to women wearing heavy thalis as a moving targets for thieves to strike.So he requested them to take adequate precautions like avoiding going in the dark ,deserted areas etc;

 

I started wearing a gold chain and gold earrings since my college days. And when I would go to bed, my ear-rings, gold-chain would go underneath the pillow. I could never sleep with any kind of jewellery whatsoever.


My in-laws have 2 sons: my husband and his brother. Our bedrooms were on the 1st floor and my FIL-MIL had a bedroom on the groundfloor. At night, before going to bed, I continued to take off my jewellery (just like I did while in college). My husband could care less about jewellery (he's not a stickler for customs), so he didnt mind one bit at all, but I remember this one time when I had to use the bathroom (just one bathroom on the first floor) and when I stepped outside my bedroom, my sis-in-law saw me without bangles, mangalsutra, toe-rings etc. OMG! She made such a big deal about it. Since then, I was careful to "dress up" when in front of inlaws. Inside my room, I have no jewellery whatsoever.


While in India, when I step outside the house, if I am wearing churidhar or saree, then yes, I definitely wear sindoor, thali, bindi, bangles. No toe-rings....I find that very uncomfortable.


But even in India, when I would wear jeans, no way am gonna wear thali, bindi, bangles. I love wearing sindoor, so that would stay no matter what dress I am wearing. We lived in a different city from our inlaws so when they come visiting, I stopped pretending anymore. My MIL did lecture me that it is not right for married women to be "bare" and that only widows look like this, but honestly, I couldnt continue pretending anymore. I have never been comfortable wearing jewellery on a daily basis, so wasnt gonna do it. But if I go to my inlaws house, I follow the customs there and do as my MIL advices me to.


Here in US, I am "bare"...like my MIL said. Only when I wear churidhar do I wear bangles, bindi, sindoor, mangalsutra.


I have always wondered why is it that only women need to indicate that they are "taken". Why not men? Earlier when I used to wear sindoor to work, one day a person came to me while I was getting coffee and says "Oh no...you are bleeding". I was so embarrassed. I thought my periods started, but then he pointed to my forehead. And I told him what it was. At that time, I was wearing my wedding ring, my mangalsutra too. He said, ....so you have sindoor on your forehead, wedding ring, a chain around your neck.....no man can lay his eyes on you....you have "taken" signs all over your body...he chuckled! He then asked, what about men? He asked if men too have such signs to indicate they are married in India? I said, no....not that I am aware of. I mentioned that few do wear rings, but most of them dont. He seemed surprised. He said here in US, both the man and the woman wear rings if they are married. That's how we know.


Regarding toe-rings, I read this article somewhere. The reason why married women wear toe-rings has got to do with their having babies. It seems there is a nerve in the toe-finger which goes directly to the female reproductive system. So when a woman wears toe-rings after marriage, it acts like acupressure and enhances her reproductive system to help aid in child bearing. That's why only married women wear toe-rings. (ofcourse now it is also used as a fashion accessory)

 

I wear a thin mangalsutra (not the long one), a pair of gold bangle ,toe ring ( 2 pairs) and apply sindoor everyday irrespective of whether I am in India or USA. It's not to show I am married, it is because I love to wear mangalsutra, toe ring and sindoor with all kind of dresses (indian dress or western). Even I got compliment for mangalsutra from many of my non indian colleague.

 

A mangalsutra is indeed a very pretty ornament to wear.
I don't wear mangalsutra all the time. Only on some occasions like festivals. No compulsion. My original mangalsutra is quite a heavy one, so I have another slim one which can be worn with western outfits as well.
I am so used to having something around my neck...so my DH is happy with me wearing a smooth chain instead of a mangalsutra all the time which keeps getting stuck in my hair or causes a rash due to constant friction.
Its all a matter of choice.

 

I have no thali or toe rings or sindoor or bindi to show my married status on an every day basis- just my adorable husband and that is all I need. But we exchanged wedding rings and we both wear it every day.

To each their own but to ME I rather wear one or all everyday on a consistent basis with the sacredness it deserves if to me it represents my marital status. My husband has never taken off his weeding ring and I too wear mine everyday.

If I am changing according to the clothes I wear or occasions or country or to please husband, parents, IL's or society then these scared symbols ending up just being props.

 

I wear my thali all the time..irrespective of what attire i am wearing. Me being a keralite, we dont wear toe-rings.

 

Only when going out. Other times, I do not. I do wear my ring all time though.