String around ear--attached to Penis?

I noticed that some Indian men, have a string attached around their ear that appears to go down to connect to their penis. I'm just curious if this is the case, and if so, what it is.

A reminder that men listen to that organ more than any other?

...I have never seen such a thing

You couldn't possibly be refferring to the Brahmins' Sacred thread could you?

If you are, then I think you should do a very long and hard purification ritual for even thinking such a thing

It is a loop of thread, of which the number of strands is significant, hung over the left shoulder and reaching approx waist length on the other side, worn diagonally.

I won't attempt to explain further. I'm sure someone of Brahmin, or at least Indian, birth will be along in a minute...

Can the Subject Lines this week get any weirder (after the pachyderm penis incident)? ....don't answer that question....;-)

Yes.

Trust us, SS

Funniest thread i have read in ages!!

I can understand your confusion! and thats why its so funny

It is a sacred thread worn around the torso usually by brahmins ( also called "crossbelt" in jest ). Now, i dont wear one, so i dont know the exact reason - but i believe those who are about to take a leak want to lift the thread a bit by lifting the top and hooking it to their ear and thereby move it away as far as possible from the center of action to avoid it getting dirty. ( Now i dont know if there is any other reason beyond this ).

Well, Its quite interesting what kind of interpretations can be made by someone who's completely new to this concept

Perhaps some "crossbelt" folks can give a better answer...

to pachyderm

reminds me of a joke but nevermind.

It is the sacred thread, as Nick mentioned.

It is worn over the ear while urinating.

It should not be "polluted" by unclean substances, e.g. urine drops dripping on it. Which is why it is taken a little "higher" over the ear to avoid dripping on it. Some say it activates an acupuncture point/s which enable smooth & uninterrupted urination.

Matt may have observed this frequently in public urinals, and put two and two together; which equals 88 in this particular case

Well, I'm no brahmin ---obviously--- but any carnatic music lover will have shared a public toilet with a good few. And I never saw such a thing.*

But I can almost believe it.

Far be it from me to poke fun at anyone's religion (would I do such a thing? What, me?) but I saw one old guy at a concert giving namaskaram and earnest prayer ---to a plastic chair he had just touched with his foot. Goodness knows what he would have to do if his thread has touched ...well, I can't even bring myself to say it

*cross-posted with AvidTrekker. Now I know better!

Nick, I guess this is more of a north Indian thing - I have not seen this a lot in S.India. Perhaps i shared toilets with fewer brahmins here in S.India...

... there is no free lunch.

translated, everything has strings attached.

Yes, this makes sense. I did put 2 and 2 together while noticing this occur while taking a leak.

--matt

Well, I'm glad we got to the bottom of that one.

...Ummm ...perhaps I should choose my words more carefully

Have you seen that conencted to bottom end