Swamishri:

When we get married, a chãndlo is imprinted on our forehead. Do we say ‘no’ then? Rather we lean forward for it! And we don’t feel ashamed to get onto a horse in the wedding procession, do we? Whereas this(Tilak-Chandlo) is to please God. We should only be ashamed if we do wrong deeds such as gambling, stealing, etc. There is nothing wrong in this. It is a symbol of our Sampradaya. No one is going to suffer if we do tilak-chãndlo. Do they lose money? So we should not be concerned whether people like it or not. Our failure to do this is our mental weakness. If people don’t like it when we study hard, will we stop our studies? Do people stop their business, farming, etc.? If it is a bad thing, then there is something to be worried about. But this is a symbol of God.
          Our fathers and grandfathers used to wear dhotis. Today people wear that ‘long thing’ (salwãr kameez). Our fathers and grandfathers don’t like it, yet we still wear it with pride. If we are not ashamed to wear that, why should we be ashamed of doing tilak-chãndlo.  If we do it once, then we’ll find it easier the second time. No one has ever said anything to us. So there is no need to be shy.