One young Indian fashion blogger is sick of the backlash she’s received for openly embracing her cultural and traditional garb – so she’s hitting back.
Forehead bindis, traditional saris, and ornate nose rings are fashion pieces that not only feel beautiful to Dallas, Texas model Sruthi Jayadevan, 22 – they also have a strong cultural meaning for her.
So when followers of her social media pages and blog Silk & Champagne suggested she ‘tone down all this cultural stuff’ – comments that echoed those made by childhood bullies – she decided not to give into the hate.
Unashamed beauty! Sruthi Jayadevan, 22, is a model and fashion blogger who took to Twitter to address the backlash she’s received for her traditional Indian clothing and cultural style
Lady in yellow: The rising star from Dallas shared in a now viral tweet that many people pick at her nose ring, bindi and outfits such as this one, and ask her to ‘tone down all this cultural stuff’
Sruthi took to Twitter to address the comments that pick at her style and degrade her Indian traditional clothing.
‘People: “what’s with the dot” “what’s that on your nose” “maybe you should tone down all this cultural stuff,”‘ Sruthi wrote on her Twitter Curry Queen.
She replied with ‘Me:’ and two stunning photographs of herself donning a sari, with her wrists stacked with chudiyaan bangles and a giant golden nose ring called nath attached to her hair by a gold chain and flower. She also wore a three part bindi on her forehead.
Her message was loud and clear: She is proud of her culture and unwilling to change for anyone. And her clap back post caught viral fire, amassing 21,000 retweets and 75,000 likes.
After moving to the US at the young age of 11 and facing the relentless teasing for her accent and culturally unfamiliar outfits, the fashion lover quickly assimilated to American style and rejected her own.
Stunner! The Indian beauty clapped back with more photos of her Indian garb declaring she’s not changing for anyone and included a guide to Indian accessories for curious readers
She wears culture on her sleeve: Sruthi moved to the US when she was just 11 and encountered bullying against her clothing and bindi (such as above) and assimilated into American fashion
‘When I first came to America, my family and I moved to a small town called Bakersfield. There was no cultural diversity there and I was probably the only Indian student at my elementary school. So, from my strong Indian accent to my braided, oily hair, my skin tone, my clothing, my bindi….everything was perceived as “different,”‘ she revealed to Daily Mail Online.
She admits she felt ‘very lonely and singled-out at school,’ as well.
But in college something struck a chord deep inside her and she realized she should never be ashamed to wear her culture on her sleeves.
‘During the last few years of college, I was really finding my identity as a brown girl and wanted to show off my culture and have pride in where I came from. So, slowly it started with incorporating the cultural accessories I was used to wearing as a young girl back in India,’ she revealed.
‘I put on my bindi even if I was wearing jeans and a crop top. I put on my nose ring and my anklets with a body con dress. I just started incorporating the pieces of my culture and history that I had lost during my years of trying to assimilate to the American culture,’ she added.
As soon as she began to do so, though, she faced immediate online backlash. The model, now older and wiser, handled the situation with grace and positivity. Sruthi refused to neglect her culture for the sake of a more palatable style – and she’s empowering other women to do the same.
‘Most people say disrespectful things about other people’s cultures because they aren’t educated about these things,’ she explained.
‘My message to people that can’t find it in their heart to appreciate other cultures is to simply take a moment and educate yourself or ask someone of the culture if they could kindly explain it to you,’ she said.
Sruthi revealed she loves to see people embrace Indian culture, that is, when it’s done appropriately.
‘I often see cultural appropriation, like wearing bindis as forehead tattoos at Coachella. That’s disrespectful because they truly don’t value the meaning or the place is comes from. One can’t hate on the smell of curry but rave about the benefits of organic turmeric. There’s a difference between cultural appreciation and appropriation,’ she poignantly shared.
Pretty and proud: But now she’s returned to embracing her roots wearing items such as ornat nose rings called nath and bindis in the center of her forehead
Beauty and grace! In her Twitter reply to haters she even included a guide to understanding Indian accessories such as her bindi and nose rings
Indian chic: On Instagram and Twitter she flaunts her wedding preparations and holds a traditional red veil mixed with a contemporary outfit and gold heels
Now her posts in full Indian garb are some of her most popular, racking up over 13,000 likes on Instagram.
‘Empowering others to embrace their culture empowered me to embrace my culture. I started growing more fearless with the way that I wore my cultural accessories. I started wearing the nose ring my mom always wore as a young adult. I put my anklets back on, I planned a trip to India,’ said to Yahoo!
‘Doing these things made me feel whole again. I felt all the suppression fade away slowly. I could feel the healing that it was bringing to my heart and soul,’ she added.
In another post she gives a sultry smile in a salwar kameez dress, gold spiky nose ring and red bindi.
‘Culture, it’s a beautiful thing really,’ she captioned her photos on Twitter.
For Sruthi, her pain as a child is motivation to be an example for others suffering similar feelings to exclusion. And her fans cheer her on along the journey.
‘Your culture is another beautiful piece of you. Never change due to someone else’s ignorance. thank you for sharing it, and celebrating it,’ one fan named Nicole said.
‘I love culture. It’s sad to see that people get so nasty just because something is different to their culture. You keep being you!!!’ another fan added.
Sruthi even added a link to an article explaining Indian jewelry for curious readers. But her post wasn’t without backlash.
One user responded to her article link saying, ‘This is so confusing.’
You do you! Fans on Twitter cheered in applause for her Indian fashion response photographs
Cultural exchange: For other online users, her outfits were a form of cultural education and insight into the fashion aspects of traditional Indian clothing
Green with envy! Jealously is the root of hate, according to one encouraging Twitter user
Loud and proud: Another Sruthi fan cheered her on against ‘ignorant’ comments
Got her back! One fan Emry fire back after a fan said they were confused by her Indian accessories guide that she included in her message
But fatefully, one dedicated fan was quick to fire back.
‘& YOU are so rude! If it’s confusing then be quiet & listen! You are lucky enough to receive an explanation when you COULD just look it up!’ user Emry wrote.
Now she inspires her 31,500 Instagram followers and 9,500 Twitter fans with messages to embrace and love one’s self.
‘I’ve had the toughest time grasping the concept of self-love & self-acceptance since I was a young girl. In a society that scrutinizes everything and anything, it takes so much more effort to understand what those things mean,’ she revealed in an Instagram post.
‘In the last few years, my journey towards self love & acceptance has been a lot smoother. As I broke free from societal norms and other people’s opinions about what it means to be a beautiful person inside and out, I started gaining more confidence…more peace,’ she added.
In another post she gushes about her excitement to share more and more of her Indian culture with her fans.
‘I spent 10 years of my life in India, and wearing Indian clothes takes me back to those amazing years spent in my beautiful little village. Can’t wait to share with you all my venture into traditional clothing and show you how I style my sarees and other Indian clothes!’ she wrote in another Instagram post.