India, April 20 -- After eyewear retailer Lenskart faced public backlash for a style guide banning bindis, Air India is facing the heat for issuing similar employee guidelines. Air India's internal grooming guidelines for its cabin crew surfaced online earlier this week, sparking outrage over rules prohibiting crew from wearing sindoor, tikka or bindis.

"Tikkas, sindoor of any colour on the forehead is not permitted," the cabin crew handbook said.

While it did not ban bindis outright, Air India issued strict guidelines on when and how they could be worn. It specified that a 5mm bindi can be worn optionally with the saree. "However bindi is not permitted with the IndoWestern uniform," the guidelines stated.

An Air India spokesperson tol...