Earlier today, I went to this cute little cafe in the art district in Porto after I read the raving reviews. My experience at this establishment was initially good--the waiter was very friendly and chatty and I had a positive experience until I decided to use the bathroom before I left.
The bathroom on the first floor wasn't available, so the waiter suggested that I use the second floor bathroom and when I entered the tiny bathroom, I immediately noticed images depicting the kama sutra on the left and center walls and the wall on the right had a large image of the sacred goddess, Durga.
I have never felt so uncomfortable in my life--as an American of Indian ancestry, I felt so deeply hurt and disrespected to see my Hindu religion and ancient Indian culture exploited right before my eyes. I grew up learning so much about the Hindu religion from my mother and I've historically seen it disrepected time and time again, but seeing a sacred Hindu goddess in a bathroom in the year 2019 is inexcusable.
In fact, I wanted to go back in there as soon as I left to explain why it was wrong to have an image of the deity, Durga, in the bathroom and why I feel that the owner should take the images down immediately. But, my boyfriend convinced me to shake it off and let it go. After giving it a lot of thought, I realized that letting it go is not okay--the silence is what makes this happen over and over again.
This cafe appeared to give off a spiritual vibe, but all I witnessed was ignorance in the name of capitalism, something I'm used to in America, but didn't expect to see during my trip in Portugal. The cultural insensitivity and lack of education that I witnessed needs to be addressed by the owner of this cafe. Cleanliness and purity are huge practices in Hinduism--I can't even walk into a temple with shoes on, so peeing or shitting in a bathroom in front of a goddess are unarguably a huge NO.
What would have been a 5 star rating quickly turned into a 1 only because there is no 0. My hope is that the owner sees this review and removes the images from the bathroom immediately out of respect for the Hindu religion and its traditions.
Namaste,
Seema read more