10/ 100 Vaccinations Dog
In the old part of the Indian city of Jodhpur there were almost always four details outside, or on, every single home. One of them, a dog, is pretty inarguable. You can see it, and everyone knows it is definitely a dog. Jodhpur seemed to be the place with the most dogs (we were told that it officially did have the most) dozing in every corner, and shitting on every street, but Varanasi must surely be closely behind, if not a place with even more.
The second thing you often see is the slightly controversial swastika. They are all over the place in Indian towns and cities. Sometimes they are stuck on walls, and often they are incorporated into ironwork and stone details around buildings. I have seen them chalked onto the back of cattle and painted onto cars.
Long before it was rotated 45° and used as a symbol of terrible hatred and horror it existed, as it still does today, as a Hindu symbol of spirituality. I found out recently that the direction each of the arms points is significant too. If they point to the right it symbolised the sun, bringing good luck and well-being. If they point to the left it symbolises the night and the slightly demonic Hindu goddess Kali.
The third and fourth things are both great examples of something we encountered a lot in India – accidental misinformation.
Many of the buildings in certain areas of Jodhpur are blue. Why are they blue? We were told it was because it was the colour the the Brahmin caste who settled in this area. We were also told it was definitely because the people there worship lord Shiva, and he is blue. Some said it was only to protect from the terrible heat in the summer. Now today, although they would never admit it, a lot of houses are blue simply because smartphone tourists LOVE it as a vibrant Instagram background.
Lastly, outside loads of houses were these strange coded chalk marks (see below). Again, we were told that they mean various things but at least everyone agreed that it is to do with child vaccinations. Having picked through the tangle of information on the internet, and the information we were given, I am confidently certain that the P relates to Polio, followed by the number of young children who have been vaccinated in the house by team 10A (the T) on the date given at the bottom.
This particular building also has the bonus feature of a taped-up painting of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god with a man’s body and a strange monkey / human hybrid face. He is almost always orange though so I’ve no idea why this one is pink. I could ask someone but I’ll probably just get too many different replies and be none the wiser.
