Safedi! Chamak! Daag? (Whiteness! Sparkle! Dirt?)

Multiple hands hold me while I wash my hands. Hands that taught me to use water, to clean with soap, to brush my teeth, wash my face, skin and body. But they also denied my hands their liberty. I was told what to touch and not touch. Touch causes impurity. Holy Objects, Humans, and Spaces that mere soap could not clean. 

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Growing up, I always encountered the practice of ‘Purity’. Cleanliness comes with (in)tolerance towards not just dirt but also towards imperfections, the disorderly, and the disorganized. Gestures of separation, classifying, and cleansing become a necessity to sustain these inherited beliefs. Hygiene was taught as a human need, but Purity was practiced as a birthright. Especially in India, the act of claiming this purity showcases how deeply these beliefs were tied to caste, respectability, and gender roles, and how they marked the places I grew up in. My work reflects on my past lived experiences and questions this belief system that propagates and reaffirms caste hierarchies. The title references words often marketed as catchy phrases in Indian detergent commercials.