In contemporary times, the bindi (red dot between the eyebrows) is decorative as well as religious, and is worn by women of any marital status, Hindu or non-Hindu, in India, its diaspora and globally. Rosanne Kanhai uses the “bindi” to characterize how Indo-Caribbean women come into their own in multiple ways. The book is a sequel to Matikor: The Politics of Identity for Indo-Caribbean Women and showcases recent works that reflect a variety of disciplines, styles and topics that include considering Indo-Caribbean women in creative, artistic and performance text, historical and anthropological analyses, intersection with their “others” in the Caribbean and its diaspora, narratives of self, healing and spiritual growth and roles in religion and cultural activities.

Bindi “makes a significant contribution to the field. It has moved forward the debates started by the first generation scholarship on Indo-Caribbean women and gender . . . The essays offer a more dynamic set of debates that allow tradition to dialogue with contemporary in one breath, as real life does.” – Patricia Mohammed, Professor, Gender and Cultural Studies and Campus Coordinator, School for Graduate Studies and Research, University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago