forehead marks (humor)

[mrabe at artic.edu]

>Frank Conlon <conlon at u.washington.edu>  has  on Tue, 11 Jun 1996 20:25:41
>BST written as follows:
>
>>With reference to Vasudha Narayanan's query on tilaka, bindi etc.:
>>
>>I am afraid I don't have any special insights on this, but wonder
>>if any of the following would be useful:
>I want to share this humor with you.
>
>     How to answer the usual questions asked of Indians?
>      To help the new wave of incoming students from India,
>      here are the proper answers to awkward questions asked
>      everyday:
>
>     Q. What does that red dot on women's forehead mean?
>     A. Well, in ancient times, Indian men used to practice archery
>        skills by target practicing by aiming at their wife's red dot.
>        In fact, that is one of the reasons why they had many wives.
>        You see, once they mastered the art of archery and hit the
>        target....

I'd heard (from a hispanic) that it meant, "You are here."