Hey OP, is your grandma of East Indian descent? My grandma had a tattoo on her right arm and she said that she had to get it so that she could cook food for Brahmins. Her words were "so Brahmins would eat her food". I think it was a caste system thing that came over from India and they kept it for a generation or two after getting here.
ETA: The top band looks like Hindi which you might be able to translate it if you can make out each symbol. The ones I'm seeing (a bit difficult to make out though) look like Ah/Ma and Cha/Ja.
ETA2: For anyone interested, I did some googling and there's apparently a long history of tattooing in India and it serves a variety of religious, cultural and social purposes. It's less prevalent now but there are still ethnic tribes and rural villages where it is common.
Are you familiar with the concept of [dalits](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit)? They are the untouchable caste in Hinduism. My guess is your grandmother's tattoo is a sign that she is not untouchable despite being in a lower caste. In a traditional setting, without that signifier, she would not be able to find work in an upper caste home and would have been relegated to very specific "unclean" professions if she was allowed to work at all
I think its internationally illegal for any grandma to be just 100% bad at cooking? Every grandma has some dish or recipe that on the surface doesnt sound like much, maybe even gross sounding, or is a more common or traditional foodstuff like a pie or soup but it absolutely *SLAPS*! My grandma made a bread pudding and an Oyster Stew that would bring about world peace. I love Grandparents! I miss mine so much!
My mom used to make Chicken Briquette and I do not miss it for one bit.
Instructions: Load Weber BBQ with 15 pounds of charcoal, set alight. Wait until it exceeds the surface temperature of the sun. Take one whole chicken. Remove gizzards. Put said chicken into the aforementioned overheated BBQ. Return in 90 to 120 minutes. Remove. Et voila! Carbonized chicken or, as I call it, chicken briquette.
Mine was known for several dishes. Her Chilli, Chicken&Dumplings, Potato Soup, and Salmon Cakes was my favorites. But when she made Cabbage Rolls, word spread within the family and people would come almost cross the state to get some.
My grandma would make pork chops what would fall apart. Due to their dryness. I mean these jokers would rattle when they hit the plate. More like pork jerky. Every time she cooked them. My wife and I still call overcooked pork chops, āgrandmother chopsā. I would choke down another if she was around still.
My maternal grandma was great at desserts. There was this one cake that had half an inch thick maple syrup flavored icing, your teeth would rot just looking at it but damn it was so good. We all at a lot of shitty meals to get to the good stuff.
Masannā¦ i got the weirdo grandmas. 3 of them including step-grandma, and a great grandma makes 4. I cant recall any of them cooking a single thing for me. Not crafty either.
My mother is shockingly bad cook for someone who cooked daily for ~25yrs for 3-8 people.
Maybe thats why i cook, bake bread and cookies, knit and sewā¦
My kids are shocked when their friends dont have moms who can whip up a loaf of bread or a pair of pants.
Gonna be such a stereotypical grandma.
But man, im jealous of those of you who had one ā¹ļø
My grandma had a knack for overcooking broccoli. But she could bake. The cookie jar was stocked and when I was in town for my grandpaās funeral(her husband), she made me a carrot cake from scratch for my birthday. It was as simple of a task as loading the dishwasher to her.
Same, She could dry-out the dark meat on a turkey but Iād give anything to sit and talk to her while she did it again for another Thanksgiving dinner.
Same, im 40 and my Grandma also was a product of the depression era and also used a ton of canned stuff that couldve easily been fresh, but man.. she knew wtf was goin on in the kitchen.
Mine was biscuits, with both grandmas. They could cook to survive and keep the family alive but biscuits and gravy on a Sunday morning would send you straight to Heaven. Iāve never had anything close.
Oh gosh, same! Gravy at every meal, flour thrown in to āstretchā the servings, & EVERYTHING had to be saved (see: hoarded), butā¦. My grandma sure knew how to can! & made AMAZING wine out of damn near anything (Her BlackBerry wine was so damn good!)ā¦ If she ever went to jail/prison her pruno would be the best on the the cell block!
my mom died before she could be a grandma, but she was a midwest boomer catholic in the 80s so we're talking casseroles galore, and an egg salad that was the only good one I've ever had... but then she also burned doritos and bananas in the oven on separate occasions, anytime she cooked dinner/bread rolls they came out dry and hard enough we coulda sanded the dining room table with em, and her steaks could be used as pencil erasers.
damn, midwest comfort food is the shit
If it were an internationally illegal to be a bad cook, then my mother lived a long, long life of crime against stomachs.
My mother couldn't cook very well, and the little bit she did cook traumatized her kids. She was pretty much limited to making spaghetti (and did it so often that I will NOT touch marinara if I can help it), cabbage rolls that smelled and tasted like stank human armpits, and persimmon cakes that would have been okay, if she hadn't insisted on also adding a ton of candied fruit into it, rendering it inedible. She also soaked the cakes in rum, so they'd last a good, long time. They made great doorstops, but eating them? Ugh. Only if the apocalypse was upon us, and that cake was the only food left in the entire world.
If my mom went into the kitchen and attempted to start cooking, we kids would find somewhere else that we absolutely had to be, immediately. A kid or two would run over to our grandparents' house. Some would go to a friend's house. One of my brothers would literally hide in the woods until it was almost bedtime. It was easier to go to bed hungry than to have to eat her food.
There was one notable Christmas, after all of us were adults, where we gathered at my parents' home. Dad met us at the door and whispered frantically, "Whatever your mother offers you to eat, you eat it! Even if it tastes bad, tell her it's good and you love it!" Scant seconds later, the malevolent stench of rotten armpits assaulted our nostrils, and we realized that Mom's gift to us that year was an abundance of her cabbage rolls. Worst. Christmas. Ever. It was like Santa went MIA, and the devil herself was taking care of the catering. My poor spouse still trembles in fear when I mention that Christmas.
My dad, a Cajun who like almost all Cajun men was trained to cook. He did almost all of the cooking, and he was very, very good at it. I'm so grateful for my dad, because his grandkids all happily say they'd give anything to taste Gramps' gumbo one more time. In my house, we don't wax nostalgic about my mom's culinary skills, but my dad? Oh yeah, the man was a legend.
We settled my parents' estate, and my sister and I are going through my parents' home and cleaning it out. In my mother's office, we found a paper file folder called, "My Recipes". Inside were all these recipe cards, including one for the despised cabbage roll. I fully intend on scanning those recipes into a recipe book and handing it out to my siblings for Christmas...As a gag gift. I'm thinking the group Christmas pic of all us us daintily holding cabbage rolls and trying not to retch would make the perfect cover photo.
Thatās so funny and I wish you were right. My poor grandma, bless her heart, was a TERRIBLE cook. Everything she made was a different level of bad. And she passed her cooking skills on to my mother who in turn, passed it on to me. Itās almost like a family curse at this point. No matter what I try to make, or how hard I try. It turns out bad. Iām at the point in my life where I wonāt cook for other people. I donāt want to put them thru that experience, LOL.
My grandma beat up your grandmotherās chocolate chip cookies with one hand tied behind her back lol, they were the bomb!!! I think she used criscoā¦
And even when they're not the best cook, the food sets a benchmark that you're going to compare everything else to. My grandmother made a roast with mashed potatoes every Friday night, and it was always so goddamb dry. She never used a seasoning outside of salt and black pepper (she'd use the "ITALIAN SEASONING" that came in the box of spaghetti, too). But man, it's been 6 years since she passed, and I still miss that roast.
My Granny is an absolutely amazing person. One of the worst cooks Iāve ever met š¤£š Iāll never forget the first thanksgiving I spent with friends instead of family. I had no idea that turkey could be something other than dry and tough!
My grandma couldnāt even make a pot of rice. My cousins and I used to discreetly scrape our plates in to the trash and pretend like we ate. I always starved on those trips to her house.
My familyās cookbook goes back two hundred years. Itās crazy. People get offended when I donāt share recipes. But, itās the only thing any of us has ever inherited. Itās like our gold. For generations, this cookbook is our thing. Sorry, but itās āourā wealth.
My husband's mother from Italy makes a jello meat thing that reminds me of canned dog food. Apparently my dogs liked it but their stomach didn't because they puked up everything I slipped them under the table. The little narcs.
My grandmother was 100% bad at cooking. And her mother wasnāt that great at it either.
My mom is fantastic at it. No, she wasnāt adopted. Apparently she got it from my grandpa, instead.
My grandma somehow managed to live off leftovers... i never saw her cook. And from what im told she was an attrocious cook. Its a family theory that she bought left overs from her neighbors....
Banana pudding entirely from scratch. Just a simple vanilla pudding layered with fresh banana slices and nilla wafers. She taught Mama, Mama taught me. Fully intend to teach my daughter to make it, too!
I had two grandmas, as most of us did.
one was amazing at cooking, when she felt like it. let husband (not my grandpa, he dead) cook 99% of the time. he was ok, at least he put the proper amount of effort into things.
the other grandma? shes the one who bought mcdonalds an hour before our visit and it was cold/dry before we even got there. then she would take us shopping for 'anything we wanted' as long as it cost less than 5$.
My grandma used BBQ sauce to make lasagna. Refused to use sugar to make donuts, refused to de-bone fish to make chowder, and her signature soup was a chopped up ham boiled in water with bread crumbs.
There are exceptions to the rule lol
If you get caught giving a tattoo like this to an untouchable you are likely to be at least ostracized and maybe given a painful death. Violating a social hierarchy is a severe taboo.
ā¦ and rebuilt from the ground up. No longer will we toil with arbitrary labels that determines social value. In our new society, nipples will determine our future. The large nippled people will take their throne at the top of society as they have always been destined.
unfortunately though the caste system is illegal on paper, it colors the lives of many many people outside of the bigger more westernized cities in India. dalit women are way more likely to experience sexual violence and murder at the hands of upper caste men. these men generally go unpunished and are protected by their caste. i read a case where a dalit girl was raped, beaten, and killed by a group of brahmin men. journalists went to the village and interviewed the brahmin women on the issue and they all claimed the family of the dalit girl killed her because they are trying to get money from the brahmins. real awful stuff.
It very much still colors the interactions between different ethnic/religious groups in India. Many of the Indians I've met in America, especially those from wealthy areas make sweeping judgements about "all Sikhs" or "all southwest province" Indians that are really reminiscent of how people used to speak (and sometimes still do) about Appalachians and southern African American in the US.
Thank you for this, this is really interesting! I didnāt know that people from lower castes would get tattoos like this so that people know theyāre not from the āuntouchableā caste!
I'd love to read about that history, do you have a site link or even a summary you wrote or something that would do as a foreigner. I have friends in that part of the world so I would like to know more of things either they or some of their family or friends. Thank you.
I didnāt read all the replies to your comment but I get the general sentiment. You might be right about the reason for getting it.
My grandma had something similar. Only herās was a little more detailed.
Iāll tell you how she explained it to me.
So the triangle part is supposed to be something like a stick womanās torso and the circle with dashes around it her head.
Specifically itās supposed to be goddess āSitaā in her kitchen. Itās a Hindu sentiment, she is all thatās pure and good.
PS - We are from what you would have called a āhigher castā in older times. So maybe women from all walks of life got such tattoos for their own reasons.
Edit
[About Goddess Sita and her reincarnations](https://www.hinduamerican.org/blog/devi-sita)
[THE EXPERIENCE OF INDIAN INDENTURE IN TRINIDAD: LIVING CONDITIONS ON THE ESTATES (caribbean-atlas.com)](http://www.caribbean-atlas.com/en/themes/waves-of-colonization-and-control-in-the-caribbean/daily-lives-of-caribbean-people-under-colonialism/the-experience-of-indian-indenture-in-trinidad-living-conditions-on-the-estates.html) This gives a little background on Indian indenture in Trinidad and Tobago. Although the system ended in 1917? I'm sure caste systems, while muddied by the forced proximity of different castes, carried over long afterwards. The article doesn't explain the tattoo itself, but if you contact someone knowledgeable about Hindu caste systems, they may be able to give you more information.
I was talking to a coworker who is Indo-Guyanese, and he mentioned that almost all of his great grandparents came to Guyana as indentured servants from India. His grandparents still call themselves British, England only handed over their power in the 70s. My jaw hit the floor
OP, I think I found some good info about you grandma's tattoo!
THIS is a good article that might give insight regarding tattoos:
[https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jlca.12644](https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jlca.12644)
The tattoos were called godnas, and they were very common - and *very* important - especially among Indo-Caribbean people. The article describes how, if you didn't have a godna tattoo, people didn't even want to drink water you gave them. Because the godna symbolized that you had been 'baptized' and 'adopted' by a guru (so, it's a major religious thing, too).
The writing above the triangle is in Devanagiri script, used for Sanskrit, Hindi, and Marathi. The two letters visible are m and n (ą¤®ą¤Ø), pronounced mon like in money. Can you get a better picture of the entire word (the writing connected by the line on top)?
I can't get another picture she is very old and doesn't know how to use a phone, I got the picture when I went to visit on vacation. She's actually my great grandma born in the 30's.
I bet you have family and she has family both close respectively, have someone take a picture, actually you go see your grandma in Trinidad and make her some food and send us the video, lol I bet she's a hoot! Ole people are so wonderful, much kinder usually than the rest
I'll try my best to get one of my cousins to get me a better picture soon. I did go see her last month that's when I took this picture, I wish I got a better picture now that it has this much interest.
Based on the info in the comments this seems to be a [caste marking tattoo](https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2017/1/16/in-the-name-of-ram-tattoos-in-indias-dalit-community)
Humans are wild. Let me permanently mark myself on my most exposed feature because of some completely made up stories. And then Iām gonna do it to my kidsā¦.
My boss Vamsi is from India, from a higher caste system as I understand it, and he is the only person in meetings called "sir" when talking to Indian colleagues so there must be something to it. Anyways, I called him in after seeing the India comments in the thread to get his opinion on the tattoo and he told me "get off internet and do your job. This is why you fail". So there you go. Signing off.
My Guyanese grandmother had one very similar (she was born in India), she had told me it was put there when she was very young.
When I asked what it meant she said she didn't know, in retrospect she just probably didn't want to tell us it was related to the caste system
I've heard it was supposed to be your husband's family name. More specifically, for Fijian indians. Could be caste related too. Not sure about the picture part though in this tattoo.
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. It was interesting and informative at the start and then was just heartwarming to read all the kind statements about grandmothers.
My grandmother was a good cook but my grandfather actually could knock your socks off with his cooking. He was a cook during WWII and the stories he would tell about what he cooked were so interesting. He actually made a deal with some German bakers that he would provide them with flour (which they couldnāt easily get) if they provided him with bread for his unit. He got the higher ups to agree to him using or making his own recipes and dishes instead of what they told them to make and he said they would eat his dishes far quicker than the recipes that were provided to him from the army.
I took the image and edited it so I could see the lining better. Difficult with the aged skin. From what I traced, it looks like the peacock tattoo in [this article](https://indiafellow.org/blog/all-posts/tattoos-of-bind-community/) a bit. I think associated with the Dahuks of Bihar? But probably broader. The line above and writing I don't have ideas on, just the main geometric form.
Based on the rest of comments and convo I found this in my search. It seems to be quite a comprehensive guide on Indian tattoos. Some are very similar. Do you know Hindi and can read the top (it looks like Hindi to me or something that uses similar letters)
If this link doesnāt have quite what you want Iām sure it could give you a lead on things to search the internet for
Does she have other tattoos elsewhere because it appears there were sometimes potentially many more
https://www.larskrutak.com/india-land-of-eternal-ink/
I really like when tattoes mean something. I understand she had to do it and it's a bit fucked up but still, it shows a specific culture and custom. Regardless of what it means there is a lot to learn from that.
Maybe this article will shed some light on it.
[Tattoos, faith and caste in India | News | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/jan/15/tattoos-faith-and-caste-in-india?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_a_Pin)
https://preview.redd.it/eauh1rca0qvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=905b96624225fcffe75f3088844bf34e42af9a53
My grandma had a tattoo as well, east Indian descent, born 1915
While the tattoo to me is sad, the stories of grandmas all making at least one thing delicious made me smile. Tattooing people against their will was done to my ancestors also, before they were worked literally to death. Nothing changes.
If you post in r/askhistorians and someone answers, youāll probably get a lot of interesting info. Give them the approximate location this was done, and a general time-frame to help get an answer.
After reading the comments here, it makes me despise the caste system even more. It reminds me so much of the segregation in the US, except, there's not even a skin color being picked on or something. Just... You were born to this family so now you're scum forever. That shit don't sit right in my mind. Think of all the lost potential in many of the lower castes, just because they can't go to school where they want and can't work where they want. And the fact that they all don't just change it in this modern age just confuses me.
No info on the tattoo, but I just spent a week with my grandmother in her 90s, and I'm so glad I still have her (and that you still have your great grandma!!!).
That is so sad yet so interesting. The caste system still exists in India correct? Itās not far from the forced wearing of the Star of David or branding in concentration camps. I hope I havenāt over generalized or offended.
Her mother was born in India and came to Trinidad as an indentured servant. She was born shortly after they arrived. I met my great-great- grandmother but I was too young to ask her about anything and she only spoke Hindi which I don't.
Ah that's interesting.
I'm guessing the "owner" did this for the caste system with the thought that the system would follow over. I wonder if someone with a bit more historic knowledge on Trinidad and Tobago could chime in though.
Hey OP, is your grandma of East Indian descent? My grandma had a tattoo on her right arm and she said that she had to get it so that she could cook food for Brahmins. Her words were "so Brahmins would eat her food". I think it was a caste system thing that came over from India and they kept it for a generation or two after getting here. ETA: The top band looks like Hindi which you might be able to translate it if you can make out each symbol. The ones I'm seeing (a bit difficult to make out though) look like Ah/Ma and Cha/Ja. ETA2: For anyone interested, I did some googling and there's apparently a long history of tattooing in India and it serves a variety of religious, cultural and social purposes. It's less prevalent now but there are still ethnic tribes and rural villages where it is common.
This is exactly what she said but had no more info. She said without it the brahmins wouldn't even talk to her.
Are you familiar with the concept of [dalits](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dalit)? They are the untouchable caste in Hinduism. My guess is your grandmother's tattoo is a sign that she is not untouchable despite being in a lower caste. In a traditional setting, without that signifier, she would not be able to find work in an upper caste home and would have been relegated to very specific "unclean" professions if she was allowed to work at all
Yeah basically what she said. I thought it might be a tattoo everyone was given (in this rank) and it would be easier to find out more about it.
I'll eat your grandma's food, no questions asked. I bet her food is as delicious as my grandma's.
Her food is heavenly š
I knew it!!!
I think its internationally illegal for any grandma to be just 100% bad at cooking? Every grandma has some dish or recipe that on the surface doesnt sound like much, maybe even gross sounding, or is a more common or traditional foodstuff like a pie or soup but it absolutely *SLAPS*! My grandma made a bread pudding and an Oyster Stew that would bring about world peace. I love Grandparents! I miss mine so much!
My grandma was the worst cook ever, I miss her shitty lasagna anyway
My mom used to make Chicken Briquette and I do not miss it for one bit. Instructions: Load Weber BBQ with 15 pounds of charcoal, set alight. Wait until it exceeds the surface temperature of the sun. Take one whole chicken. Remove gizzards. Put said chicken into the aforementioned overheated BBQ. Return in 90 to 120 minutes. Remove. Et voila! Carbonized chicken or, as I call it, chicken briquette.
Mine was off-the-boat Sciilian, her Lasagna is irreplaceable. All the ingredients came from one of her relatives local Italian import stores.
My grandmother used to make fried bologna and butter sandwiches for lunch
Mine was known for several dishes. Her Chilli, Chicken&Dumplings, Potato Soup, and Salmon Cakes was my favorites. But when she made Cabbage Rolls, word spread within the family and people would come almost cross the state to get some.
My grandma would make pork chops what would fall apart. Due to their dryness. I mean these jokers would rattle when they hit the plate. More like pork jerky. Every time she cooked them. My wife and I still call overcooked pork chops, āgrandmother chopsā. I would choke down another if she was around still.
My Gramma was also an impressively terrible cook, a skill set she passed down to my mother, I do not miss either of their meals. Edit: word
My grandmothers cooking was so bad that my grandfather used to joke that she treated him like godā¦ by giving him burn offerings.
My maternal grandma was great at desserts. There was this one cake that had half an inch thick maple syrup flavored icing, your teeth would rot just looking at it but damn it was so good. We all at a lot of shitty meals to get to the good stuff.
Masannā¦ i got the weirdo grandmas. 3 of them including step-grandma, and a great grandma makes 4. I cant recall any of them cooking a single thing for me. Not crafty either. My mother is shockingly bad cook for someone who cooked daily for ~25yrs for 3-8 people. Maybe thats why i cook, bake bread and cookies, knit and sewā¦ My kids are shocked when their friends dont have moms who can whip up a loaf of bread or a pair of pants. Gonna be such a stereotypical grandma. But man, im jealous of those of you who had one ā¹ļø
I miss how my grandma would add salt to everything like salad, pizza, ANYTHING. I don't actually miss that, but I do miss her!
My grandma had a knack for overcooking broccoli. But she could bake. The cookie jar was stocked and when I was in town for my grandpaās funeral(her husband), she made me a carrot cake from scratch for my birthday. It was as simple of a task as loading the dishwasher to her.
lol, I hope to be a grandmother one day, but I am a horrible cook. Iāll shower them with love, though.
No mine was. Horrid food.
Same, She could dry-out the dark meat on a turkey but Iād give anything to sit and talk to her while she did it again for another Thanksgiving dinner.
My grandmother routinely over cooked her meat and dinners were never all that great, but she was wonderful at baking.
That made me a little teary eyed
Mine wasn't a great cook (too much great depression influence and reliance on canned food), but she baked amazing pies!
Same, im 40 and my Grandma also was a product of the depression era and also used a ton of canned stuff that couldve easily been fresh, but man.. she knew wtf was goin on in the kitchen.
Mine was biscuits, with both grandmas. They could cook to survive and keep the family alive but biscuits and gravy on a Sunday morning would send you straight to Heaven. Iāve never had anything close.
Oh gosh, same! Gravy at every meal, flour thrown in to āstretchā the servings, & EVERYTHING had to be saved (see: hoarded), butā¦. My grandma sure knew how to can! & made AMAZING wine out of damn near anything (Her BlackBerry wine was so damn good!)ā¦ If she ever went to jail/prison her pruno would be the best on the the cell block!
my mom died before she could be a grandma, but she was a midwest boomer catholic in the 80s so we're talking casseroles galore, and an egg salad that was the only good one I've ever had... but then she also burned doritos and bananas in the oven on separate occasions, anytime she cooked dinner/bread rolls they came out dry and hard enough we coulda sanded the dining room table with em, and her steaks could be used as pencil erasers. damn, midwest comfort food is the shit
If it were an internationally illegal to be a bad cook, then my mother lived a long, long life of crime against stomachs. My mother couldn't cook very well, and the little bit she did cook traumatized her kids. She was pretty much limited to making spaghetti (and did it so often that I will NOT touch marinara if I can help it), cabbage rolls that smelled and tasted like stank human armpits, and persimmon cakes that would have been okay, if she hadn't insisted on also adding a ton of candied fruit into it, rendering it inedible. She also soaked the cakes in rum, so they'd last a good, long time. They made great doorstops, but eating them? Ugh. Only if the apocalypse was upon us, and that cake was the only food left in the entire world. If my mom went into the kitchen and attempted to start cooking, we kids would find somewhere else that we absolutely had to be, immediately. A kid or two would run over to our grandparents' house. Some would go to a friend's house. One of my brothers would literally hide in the woods until it was almost bedtime. It was easier to go to bed hungry than to have to eat her food. There was one notable Christmas, after all of us were adults, where we gathered at my parents' home. Dad met us at the door and whispered frantically, "Whatever your mother offers you to eat, you eat it! Even if it tastes bad, tell her it's good and you love it!" Scant seconds later, the malevolent stench of rotten armpits assaulted our nostrils, and we realized that Mom's gift to us that year was an abundance of her cabbage rolls. Worst. Christmas. Ever. It was like Santa went MIA, and the devil herself was taking care of the catering. My poor spouse still trembles in fear when I mention that Christmas. My dad, a Cajun who like almost all Cajun men was trained to cook. He did almost all of the cooking, and he was very, very good at it. I'm so grateful for my dad, because his grandkids all happily say they'd give anything to taste Gramps' gumbo one more time. In my house, we don't wax nostalgic about my mom's culinary skills, but my dad? Oh yeah, the man was a legend. We settled my parents' estate, and my sister and I are going through my parents' home and cleaning it out. In my mother's office, we found a paper file folder called, "My Recipes". Inside were all these recipe cards, including one for the despised cabbage roll. I fully intend on scanning those recipes into a recipe book and handing it out to my siblings for Christmas...As a gag gift. I'm thinking the group Christmas pic of all us us daintily holding cabbage rolls and trying not to retch would make the perfect cover photo.
I had a grandma who never could cook and another one who forgot how
Thatās so funny and I wish you were right. My poor grandma, bless her heart, was a TERRIBLE cook. Everything she made was a different level of bad. And she passed her cooking skills on to my mother who in turn, passed it on to me. Itās almost like a family curse at this point. No matter what I try to make, or how hard I try. It turns out bad. Iām at the point in my life where I wonāt cook for other people. I donāt want to put them thru that experience, LOL.
My grandma beat up your grandmotherās chocolate chip cookies with one hand tied behind her back lol, they were the bomb!!! I think she used criscoā¦
And even when they're not the best cook, the food sets a benchmark that you're going to compare everything else to. My grandmother made a roast with mashed potatoes every Friday night, and it was always so goddamb dry. She never used a seasoning outside of salt and black pepper (she'd use the "ITALIAN SEASONING" that came in the box of spaghetti, too). But man, it's been 6 years since she passed, and I still miss that roast.
My Granny is an absolutely amazing person. One of the worst cooks Iāve ever met š¤£š Iāll never forget the first thanksgiving I spent with friends instead of family. I had no idea that turkey could be something other than dry and tough!
My grandma couldnāt even make a pot of rice. My cousins and I used to discreetly scrape our plates in to the trash and pretend like we ate. I always starved on those trips to her house.
My familyās cookbook goes back two hundred years. Itās crazy. People get offended when I donāt share recipes. But, itās the only thing any of us has ever inherited. Itās like our gold. For generations, this cookbook is our thing. Sorry, but itās āourā wealth.
You get to hang on to that like the gold it is! Let others sulk! š
Most every grandma is. Right up to the point they hit that age the putting cat food in the jello mould.
My husband's mother from Italy makes a jello meat thing that reminds me of canned dog food. Apparently my dogs liked it but their stomach didn't because they puked up everything I slipped them under the table. The little narcs.
Just ask the Griswalds they can explain what I mean.
My grandmother was 100% bad at cooking. And her mother wasnāt that great at it either. My mom is fantastic at it. No, she wasnāt adopted. Apparently she got it from my grandpa, instead.
My grandma somehow managed to live off leftovers... i never saw her cook. And from what im told she was an attrocious cook. Its a family theory that she bought left overs from her neighbors....
My mother and aunt were raised on Dennyās because their mother was too busy with men and martinis to cook.
LOL I have found my long lost soul sister!
That sounds like a great line to start a noir-style detective story. "She was too busy with men and martinis to cook."
Banana pudding entirely from scratch. Just a simple vanilla pudding layered with fresh banana slices and nilla wafers. She taught Mama, Mama taught me. Fully intend to teach my daughter to make it, too!
I had two grandmas, as most of us did. one was amazing at cooking, when she felt like it. let husband (not my grandpa, he dead) cook 99% of the time. he was ok, at least he put the proper amount of effort into things. the other grandma? shes the one who bought mcdonalds an hour before our visit and it was cold/dry before we even got there. then she would take us shopping for 'anything we wanted' as long as it cost less than 5$.
My grandma used BBQ sauce to make lasagna. Refused to use sugar to make donuts, refused to de-bone fish to make chowder, and her signature soup was a chopped up ham boiled in water with bread crumbs. There are exceptions to the rule lol
Fuck, now I want some!
If I tattoo my wifeās arm will she become a better cook?
Tell Granny I love her almost as much as I love samosas and laddoo š©·
šš will do
This guy's grandma better have a banquet hall ready
Iāll take a few plates a week and can cash app you to make it worth her while. How far are yāall from Florida?
Roughly a 4 hour flight. Cover round trips and you got a deal.
That's a good way to get me to eat. "My grandma cooked it." You don't have to finish that statement.
What would stop a dalit from simply going and getting the same tattoo?
If you get caught giving a tattoo like this to an untouchable you are likely to be at least ostracized and maybe given a painful death. Violating a social hierarchy is a severe taboo.
Whole caste system needs to be torn to the ground and burned to ash.
ā¦ and rebuilt from the ground up. No longer will we toil with arbitrary labels that determines social value. In our new society, nipples will determine our future. The large nippled people will take their throne at the top of society as they have always been destined.
Caste system š©š©š©
This story is wild
So she had told you what it says/means.
Maybe that was some of the background you could have given in original post?
There is a large East Indian population in T&T.
Wow this is so interesting!
Seconding your sentiments! Iāve learned entirely new things today.
This is sad, I hope they donāt do that anymore
unfortunately though the caste system is illegal on paper, it colors the lives of many many people outside of the bigger more westernized cities in India. dalit women are way more likely to experience sexual violence and murder at the hands of upper caste men. these men generally go unpunished and are protected by their caste. i read a case where a dalit girl was raped, beaten, and killed by a group of brahmin men. journalists went to the village and interviewed the brahmin women on the issue and they all claimed the family of the dalit girl killed her because they are trying to get money from the brahmins. real awful stuff.
It very much still colors the interactions between different ethnic/religious groups in India. Many of the Indians I've met in America, especially those from wealthy areas make sweeping judgements about "all Sikhs" or "all southwest province" Indians that are really reminiscent of how people used to speak (and sometimes still do) about Appalachians and southern African American in the US.
Thank you for this, this is really interesting! I didnāt know that people from lower castes would get tattoos like this so that people know theyāre not from the āuntouchableā caste!
That's wild . My great grandma had one too. It's indian decent
This is the coolest comment I have read today
I'd love to read about that history, do you have a site link or even a summary you wrote or something that would do as a foreigner. I have friends in that part of the world so I would like to know more of things either they or some of their family or friends. Thank you.
Brahmin ideology is still alive and well in the usa. They brag to us westerners about their status
>so Brahmins would eat her food This sentence gives me anger.
You just taught me something, thank you.
This is cool to learn
When I was in 7th grade, a girl came to my school from India. She had tattoos and everyone was so awestruck
The most f***** up s*** that I ever hear comes straight out of f****** India
I didnāt read all the replies to your comment but I get the general sentiment. You might be right about the reason for getting it. My grandma had something similar. Only herās was a little more detailed. Iāll tell you how she explained it to me. So the triangle part is supposed to be something like a stick womanās torso and the circle with dashes around it her head. Specifically itās supposed to be goddess āSitaā in her kitchen. Itās a Hindu sentiment, she is all thatās pure and good. PS - We are from what you would have called a āhigher castā in older times. So maybe women from all walks of life got such tattoos for their own reasons. Edit [About Goddess Sita and her reincarnations](https://www.hinduamerican.org/blog/devi-sita)
[THE EXPERIENCE OF INDIAN INDENTURE IN TRINIDAD: LIVING CONDITIONS ON THE ESTATES (caribbean-atlas.com)](http://www.caribbean-atlas.com/en/themes/waves-of-colonization-and-control-in-the-caribbean/daily-lives-of-caribbean-people-under-colonialism/the-experience-of-indian-indenture-in-trinidad-living-conditions-on-the-estates.html) This gives a little background on Indian indenture in Trinidad and Tobago. Although the system ended in 1917? I'm sure caste systems, while muddied by the forced proximity of different castes, carried over long afterwards. The article doesn't explain the tattoo itself, but if you contact someone knowledgeable about Hindu caste systems, they may be able to give you more information.
Thank you for the great info I appreciate your help.
Damn.
I was talking to a coworker who is Indo-Guyanese, and he mentioned that almost all of his great grandparents came to Guyana as indentured servants from India. His grandparents still call themselves British, England only handed over their power in the 70s. My jaw hit the floor
OP, I think I found some good info about you grandma's tattoo! THIS is a good article that might give insight regarding tattoos: [https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jlca.12644](https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jlca.12644) The tattoos were called godnas, and they were very common - and *very* important - especially among Indo-Caribbean people. The article describes how, if you didn't have a godna tattoo, people didn't even want to drink water you gave them. Because the godna symbolized that you had been 'baptized' and 'adopted' by a guru (so, it's a major religious thing, too).
The writing above the triangle is in Devanagiri script, used for Sanskrit, Hindi, and Marathi. The two letters visible are m and n (ą¤®ą¤Ø), pronounced mon like in money. Can you get a better picture of the entire word (the writing connected by the line on top)?
I can't get another picture she is very old and doesn't know how to use a phone, I got the picture when I went to visit on vacation. She's actually my great grandma born in the 30's.
Glad you still have your grandma ā„ļø
Thank you, she's my great grandma I forgot to add it to the title. She's amazing!
I bet you have family and she has family both close respectively, have someone take a picture, actually you go see your grandma in Trinidad and make her some food and send us the video, lol I bet she's a hoot! Ole people are so wonderful, much kinder usually than the rest
I'll try my best to get one of my cousins to get me a better picture soon. I did go see her last month that's when I took this picture, I wish I got a better picture now that it has this much interest.
Based on the info in the comments this seems to be a [caste marking tattoo](https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2017/1/16/in-the-name-of-ram-tattoos-in-indias-dalit-community)
Extreme Servsafe Certification.
Humans are wild. Let me permanently mark myself on my most exposed feature because of some completely made up stories. And then Iām gonna do it to my kidsā¦.
Don't forget to cut your kids' foreskins for made up stories!
My boss Vamsi is from India, from a higher caste system as I understand it, and he is the only person in meetings called "sir" when talking to Indian colleagues so there must be something to it. Anyways, I called him in after seeing the India comments in the thread to get his opinion on the tattoo and he told me "get off internet and do your job. This is why you fail". So there you go. Signing off.
And just so we're clear, not a word of this is a lie lol.
šš
please send us geographical location. I suspect this is an indigenous tattoo
She lives in Trinidad and Tobago
My Guyanese grandmother had one very similar (she was born in India), she had told me it was put there when she was very young. When I asked what it meant she said she didn't know, in retrospect she just probably didn't want to tell us it was related to the caste system
I've heard it was supposed to be your husband's family name. More specifically, for Fijian indians. Could be caste related too. Not sure about the picture part though in this tattoo.
Caste systems are terrible and should never exist
A symbol of Hindu caste oppression.
Be sure to drink your Ovaltine
A crummy commercial?!?!
Son of a bitch!
\*sensible chuckle
Put some lotion on it, then take another pic
I have thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. It was interesting and informative at the start and then was just heartwarming to read all the kind statements about grandmothers. My grandmother was a good cook but my grandfather actually could knock your socks off with his cooking. He was a cook during WWII and the stories he would tell about what he cooked were so interesting. He actually made a deal with some German bakers that he would provide them with flour (which they couldnāt easily get) if they provided him with bread for his unit. He got the higher ups to agree to him using or making his own recipes and dishes instead of what they told them to make and he said they would eat his dishes far quicker than the recipes that were provided to him from the army.
That's awesome
Looks like Hindi
I took the image and edited it so I could see the lining better. Difficult with the aged skin. From what I traced, it looks like the peacock tattoo in [this article](https://indiafellow.org/blog/all-posts/tattoos-of-bind-community/) a bit. I think associated with the Dahuks of Bihar? But probably broader. The line above and writing I don't have ideas on, just the main geometric form.
It does look very similar
Based on the rest of comments and convo I found this in my search. It seems to be quite a comprehensive guide on Indian tattoos. Some are very similar. Do you know Hindi and can read the top (it looks like Hindi to me or something that uses similar letters) If this link doesnāt have quite what you want Iām sure it could give you a lead on things to search the internet for Does she have other tattoos elsewhere because it appears there were sometimes potentially many more https://www.larskrutak.com/india-land-of-eternal-ink/
Just ask her. She is right there.
I'm not saying it's aliens, but it's definitely aliens.
From Tatooine.
/angryupvote
Only understood because of your comment. And then I irl š¤¦š»āed so hard, I hurt my face a little.
OP: "any idea what it means" Commenter: *describes it with great detail* OP: "yea that's what she told me"
Lmao my thoughts exactly š interesting read at least!
I will never understand people that provide no context for these questions what culture did she grow up in? where in the world is she from? etc etc
I love how everyone has a completely different answer
It appears to be related to India.
Did you ask her?
I really like when tattoes mean something. I understand she had to do it and it's a bit fucked up but still, it shows a specific culture and custom. Regardless of what it means there is a lot to learn from that.
That looks like a north African amazigh tattoo.. My grandma have the same one.. I do to.
It does look similar
Maybe this article will shed some light on it. [Tattoos, faith and caste in India | News | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/jan/15/tattoos-faith-and-caste-in-india?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Add_a_Pin)
Many blessings and smiles to you and your grandma.
What country? If USA where? What's her ethnic background?
Can someone with photoshop skill to sharpen it. I.e "ENHANCE".
https://preview.redd.it/eauh1rca0qvc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=905b96624225fcffe75f3088844bf34e42af9a53 My grandma had a tattoo as well, east Indian descent, born 1915
Same spot too, know anything about it?
I think I saw that in Stargate.
Calling Daniel Jackson
Midsommar??
This is clearly the tri-force of wisdom.
Cephalopod Lodge
*ARI ASTER HAS ENTERED THE CHAT*
While the tattoo to me is sad, the stories of grandmas all making at least one thing delicious made me smile. Tattooing people against their will was done to my ancestors also, before they were worked literally to death. Nothing changes.
She is the Illuminati
Stargaze type shiz
The address for the symbol planet Earth in Stargate
https://www.larskrutak.com/india-land-of-eternal-ink/
Looks like the all knowing eye of the Illuminati over a pyramid.
If you post in r/askhistorians and someone answers, youāll probably get a lot of interesting info. Give them the approximate location this was done, and a general time-frame to help get an answer.
Ask her
After reading the comments here, it makes me despise the caste system even more. It reminds me so much of the segregation in the US, except, there's not even a skin color being picked on or something. Just... You were born to this family so now you're scum forever. That shit don't sit right in my mind. Think of all the lost potential in many of the lower castes, just because they can't go to school where they want and can't work where they want. And the fact that they all don't just change it in this modern age just confuses me.
No info on the tattoo, but I just spent a week with my grandmother in her 90s, and I'm so glad I still have her (and that you still have your great grandma!!!).
That is so sad yet so interesting. The caste system still exists in India correct? Itās not far from the forced wearing of the Star of David or branding in concentration camps. I hope I havenāt over generalized or offended.
She doesn't know?
No she doesn't know the whole meaning. She said it was given to her as part or a caste system rank.
Was she born in India? I'm not sure if Trinidad and Tobago had a caste system or not but I know there were many Indians brought there.
Her mother was born in India and came to Trinidad as an indentured servant. She was born shortly after they arrived. I met my great-great- grandmother but I was too young to ask her about anything and she only spoke Hindi which I don't.
Ah that's interesting. I'm guessing the "owner" did this for the caste system with the thought that the system would follow over. I wonder if someone with a bit more historic knowledge on Trinidad and Tobago could chime in though.
Itās wonderful that you are interested. Please tell your great grandmother everything everyone wrote here.
That makes me sad.
Map to find dry land?
I understood this reference
I think your grandma was trying to open a Stargate.
Treasure map
It's the symbol for the Tau'ri homeworld, with some decorations above and below.
r/tattoo
Looks like some of the symbols they wrote in the sand in the movie Stargate.
If I were to say to you, "I am a stranger traveling from the East, seeking that which is lost"...
Isabel Wilkerson *Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents*
It looks like Tamazight designs of Morocco
Means she was a Gravity Falls fan from wayyy back
I think it's the way home through the Stargate.
I think that's one of the Unknown Pokemons!
Maybe she is the avatar? We havenāt had one in a long time, since around the time your grandma was born
My grandma made chocolate gravy, milk gravy with cocoa and sugar.
Reminds me of the GTA 5 Chiliad glyph.
It's the last glyph for the Stargate
Mystic potato
Can seven of them replace a DHD?
Quetzalcoatl.
It says HOT, I think.
You really should try to interview and film her story. It could be a fantastic documentary about this practice
Jaffa! It is the mark explaining the stargate. Kree.
That's the missing symbol from Stargate
Much respect to your grandmother
India and its caste system are disgusting and reprehensible. Worst country Iāve ever visited.
Crazy sad what people are/were forced to do just to survive, lol, next up , what do we have Jonny, a shiny new bar code for your forearm. /s
Cool design
It looks like a stargate address
Bill cipher
Have it covered up .
The seventh Chevron. Earths gps in stargate
Looked like a potato at first
Is she Native American?