Every symbol has three layers of interpretation, said Roland Barthes. I think I have found at least five for Operation Sindoor.

Let us see. The first one, or primary interpretation, is simple and straightforward: the colour of blood. It was a message that we would be kicking butt. We were ticked. They killed our men and left their young wives widowed. It left our blood boiling and turned it into hot Sindoor. We had to show them who the real man was, aka 56.

But what is the hidden or secondary message? That too seems obvious, I think. Sindoor is the paste applied by Hanuman over all his body to express how much he loved Sri Rama. For Sindoor on her forehead was a mark of her love for Sri Rama, said Sita. No one will mess with her.

I get this too. This is the in-your-face finger that is being shown to the Asura. They came and killed wantonly and spared the women only to use them as tools, as messengers to go tell Modi. Well, he heard, and he responded. And we heard too as the ear of his ears and saw as the eye of his eyes. That is the mythological, the religious, hidden behind the Brahmo, and the arrow of the sky, the Akashteer, another symbol and message.

What is the third level, then? The ensconced one. I think it is the BJP, plain and simple. For, if you remember, the colour of Sindoor is both red and orange. And subtly,........

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