Like all religious systems, Hinduism tries to make sense of what harms a person and how a person can harm others. Like other religions, Hinduism can focus upon intentions. The Bhagavad-Gita describes the intentions which are recommended. Classical texts such as the Law Code of Manu list the behaviors which should be adopted.

Some behaviors are to be avoided. One night I and several others go to a classical Dance performance. As we sit on the front row of the auditorium, another gentleman takes a seat next to me. We chat briefly. Before the performance begins, I cross my legs. I almost touch him with the bottom of my shoe. Quickly looking at me, he says: “It is okay for you to sit next to me, but please don’t touch me with the soles of your shoe.” This warning, a not-so-subtle warning, involves purity. If I touch him, an observant Hindu, with the bottom of my shoe, a leather shoe that has been in contact with “who-knows-what” on the Madras streets, then I pollute him. This classical dance performance isn’t simply entertainment; the performance has a religious dimension. For him, the dance will be ruined if he is stained in as simple a manner of my shoe touching him.

A few days after that evening, I meet Professor Raymond Williams, an American Religious Studies professor. At some point in our conversation, I mention that experience. “You aren’t alone!” Raymond describes a time while he is studying a particular temple. He stops at the temple’s water tank which is for purification purposes. Wanting to rest, he stretches out his foot and place it against a stone. A man quickly says to Raymond: “Excuse me, but you might not want to put your foot there; somebody might be upset.” Removing his foot and looking more closely at  the stone, Raymond realizes that it was a lingham, a stone symbolizing the god Shiva.

Part of visiting another country is enjoying their arts. Part of visiting another culture is learning their social taboos. No matter how awkward that might be!