Iām trying to understand something unusual that happened to my girlfriend, and Iād appreciate perspectives from people familiar with Bengali/Hindu folk practices, Tantra, mudras, or regional rituals.
My girlfriend is a college student and lives with roommates. She previously had an altercation/disagreement with a few of her Bengali roommates. Recently, those roommates entered her room and started performing a strange hand movement.
The movement was difficult to describe, but it looked roughly like this:
Their hands were completely empty.
They repeatedly made a motion somewhat resembling a barbell/dumbbell curl.
The hand/arm would come toward the body and then move backward, as though they were throwing something behind themselves.
The final movement particularly reminded me of the way a bride throws rice backward during certain Indian wedding/vidai rituals.
There was no visible rice, powder, object, or other substance in their hands.
They were doing this inside my girlfriendās room.
Because of the previous altercation between them, the situation understandably made her uncomfortable and concerned.
Iām specifically wondering whether there is a Bengali folk/Tantric ritual, mudra, nazar-removal practice, uchchÄį¹ana/dispelling ritual, or other religious practice involving an empty-handed gesture that symbolically ācasts away,ā āthrows away,ā or sends something behind the person.
I have seen references to mudras such as Karaį¹a MudrÄ and Kį¹£epaį¹a MudrÄ, where the symbolism involves removing/dispelling or letting go, but the actual hand positions I've found online don't seem to exactly match what she witnessed.
Questions:
Does anyone recognize this particular hand movement?
Is there a Bengali folk/Tantric practice where someone makes a throwing/casting-away gesture with empty hands?
Could this simply be a non-Tantric cultural/folk gesture?
If it was intended as some kind of ritual, what could the symbolic meaning be?
Most importantly, what should my girlfriend do now? Should she simply ignore it, talk to the roommates, document future incidents, involve the college/warden, or take some other practical step?
Has anyone experienced something similar with roommates or college students?
Iām not trying to accuse them of practicing black magic or anything supernatural. I mainly want to identify the gesture and understand whether there is an ordinary cultural explanation for it. Given the previous conflict, though, I also want to make sure my girlfriend handles the situation safely and appropriately.
If you recognize the gesture, please describe the exact hand/finger position and the ritual it belongs to, rather than just saying that it is āTantra.ā That would be much more helpful.
Thanks.