Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 370

RULES OF ETIQUETTE
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blow given with the fist, or a kick with the bare foot but
a blow on the head, should it knock off the turban, is a very
;
By far the greatest indignity of all, however,
gross insult.
to be struck with one of the shoes or sandals that Hindus
wear. Whoever submitted to such an insult without in-
sisting on receiving satisfaction, would be excluded from
The mere threat of such an insult is often
his caste.
sufficient to provoke a criminal prosecution.
It is a mark of respect when women turn their backs on
is
men whom
they hold in high esteem. At any rate, they
their faces or cover them with their saris.
Again, when they leave the house, propriety requires them
to proceed on their way without paying any attention to
and if they see a man they are expected
the passers-by
to bow their heads and look in the opposite direction.
There are a good many, however, who are not always
quite so modest.
Any one who sees a person of high rank coming towards
him, must go off the road, if he is on foot, so as to leave
the way perfectly free, and if he is on horseback or in
a palanquin he must get down and remain standing until
the great person has passed and is some distance off. When
speaking to a superior, politeness demands that an inferior
should put his right hand before his mouth to prevent any
particle of his breath or saliva reaching and defiling him.
If an inferior meets a superior out of doors he must take
off his shoes before greeting him.
A Hindu, moreover,
must never enter his own house, much less a stranger's,
with leather shoes on his feet.
In several of the Southern Provinces the Sudras are in
the habit of taking off the cloth which covers the upper
part of their bodies, winding it round their waists, and
standing with arms crossed on their chest while speaking
to a superior.
The women of certain castes do the same
in the presence of their husbands, or of any man to whom
they wish to show respect. Their rules of propriety oblige
them to appear before men stripped to the waist and to
omit to do so would show a great want of good breeding.
When Brahmins are talking to a man of another caste,
or to a European from whom they have nothing to hope
or to fear, they stand with their hands behind their backs
must turn away
;
;