A few months ago, Shashi Tharoor wrote an essay which contained a “casual observation” about how less and less women in India were wearing saris. Upon hearing about his thoughts, desi women all over the world gifted Shashi with a new orifice, via email, blog, essay, and voodoo doll. A few women, my curmudgeonly mother included, agreed with Tharoor’s lament; like him, they were saddened by the ascent of the Salwar Kameez.
[I do think that Malayalees who are my Mom’s/Shashi’s age are extra vexed by how the sartorial times, they are a-changin’, since they so strongly identify saris as part of the Mallu identity, but more on that later. Or not.]
Tharoor wrote a follow-up piece recently, which I discovered via the news tab. I’ve excerpted the yummier parts for your digestion.
On how graceful and pretty saris are:
For centuries, if not millennia, the alluring garment, all five or six or nine yards of it, has been the defining drape of Indian womanhood. Cotton or silk, Banarasi or Pochampalli, shimmering Kanjeevaram or multi-coloured bandhani, with the pallav draped front-to-back over the left shoulder or in the Gujarati style back-to-front over the right, the sari has stood the test of time, climate and body shape.
Of all the garments yet invented by man (or, not to be too sexist about it, mankind) the sari did most to flatter the wearer. Unlike every other female dress on the planet, the sari could be worn with elegance by women of any age, size or shape: you could never be too fat, too short or too ungainly to look good in a sari. Indeed, if you were stout, or bowlegged, or thick-waisted, nothing concealed those handicaps of nature better than the sari. Women looked good in a sari who could never have got away with appearing in public in a skirt.
Tharoor is less caustic and more rational than my elderly Aunts are, about how much the North is to blame:
So why has this masterpiece of feminine attire begun fading from our streets? On recent visits home to India I have begun to notice fewer and fewer saris in our public places, and practically none in the workplace. The salwar kameez, the trouser and even the Western dress-suit have begun to supplant it everywhere. And this is not just a northern phenomenon, the result of the increasing dominance of our culture by Punjabi-ised folk who think nothing of giving masculine names to their daughters.
At a recent Press conference I addressed in Trivandrum, there were perhaps a dozen women journalists present. Only one was wearing a sari: the rest, all Keralites without exception, were in salwar-kameezes. And when I was crass enough to ask why none of the “young ladies†present wore saris, the one who did modestly suggested that she was no longer very young.
Actually, it’s the youths! And the feminists!
Youth clearly has something to do with it; very few of today’s under-30 women seem to have the patience for draping a sari, and few of them seem to think it suitable for the speed with which they scurry through their lives. (“Try rushing to catch a bus in a sari,†one young lady pointedly remarked, “and you’ll switch to jeans the next day.â€)
But there’s also something less utilitarian about their rejection of the sari for daily wear. Today’s younger generation of Indian women seem to associate the garment with an earlier era, a more traditional time when women did not compete on equal terms in a man’s world. Putting on pants, or a Western woman’s suit, or even desi leggings in the former of a salwar, strikes them as more modern.
Freeing their legs to move more briskly than the sari permits is, it seems, a form of liberation; it removes a self-imposed handicap, releasing the wearer from all the cultural assumptions associated with the traditional attire.
I’ve noticed this about brown people, too. We are the last ones to keep it old skool in our “costumes” (Blech. I hate that word. As if I’d wear Kanjeevaram on October 31. Meh.):
I think this is actually a great pity. One of the remarkable aspects of Indian modernity has always been its unwillingness to disown the past; from our nationalists and reformers onwards, we have always asserted that Indians can be modern in ancient garb. Political ideas derived from nineteenth and twentieth-century thinkers have been articulated by men in mundus and dhotis that have not essentially changed since they were first worn two or three thousand years ago. (Statuary from the days of the Indus Valley Civilisation more than four thousand years ago show men draped in waistcloths that Mr Karunanidhi would still be happy to don.)
Gandhiji demonstrated that one did not have to put on a Western suit to challenge the British empire; when criticised by the British Press for calling upon the King in his simple loincloth, the Mahatma mildly observed, “His Majesty was wearing enough clothes for the two of usâ€. Where a Kemal Ataturk in Turkey banned his menfolk’s traditional fez as a symbol of backwardness and insisted that his compatriots don Western hats, India’s nationalist leaders not only retained their customary headgear, they added the defiantly desi “Gandhi cap†(oddly named, since Gandhiji himself never wore one). Our clothing has always been part of our sense of authenticity.
I REMEMBER being struck, on my first visit to Japan some fifteen years ago, by the ubiquitousness of Western clothing in that Asian country. Every Japanese man and woman in the street, on the subway or in the offices I visited wore suits and skirts and dresses; the kimono and its male equivalent were preserved at home, and brought out only for ceremonial occasions…
What will happen once the generation of women who grew up routinely wearing a sari every day dies out? The warning signs are all around us now. It would be sad indeed if, like the Japanese kimono, the sari becomes a rare and exotic garment in its own land, worn only to temples and weddings.
Find the rest of his essay here. Thoughts?
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Anyone who makes my heart swell by calling me a term of endearment I haven’t heard in over two decades gets what they want. 🙂 Wish everyone were this easy to please.
Click to enlarge.
I’ve read many of the comments below, which celebrate the beauty of wearing a sari “Gujurati-ishtyle”. While I have done that (with this very sari even!), I must gently demur– wearing one’s pallu the “boring” way ain’t so bad, I promise. 😉
And yes, all my blouses are that conservative. Not a word, brown fashionistas. Not. a. word.
I don’t know if the sari itself should be credited for elegance or criticized for idli-tops. Unlike a lot of other garments, it leaves the “fitting” element of sartorial design firmly in the hands of the wearer. In that regard, the sari does rock. Not many other garments bring such range and versatility. For every well-draped Dipannita Sharma, there is an unfortunate Khushboo spilling out of one.
Really? Personally there’s absolutely nothing suffocating in wearing what often amounts to wearing slightly fitted silk pajamas. =)
I actually think the way things are being practiced now are good.
Desi women (my mother and sisters included) cherish and keep their saris a whole lot more than they would before, because they’ve become the thing to wear on special occasions (and by that not too rare ones like a wedding, but even someone’s birthday). Just as I keep my sherwani carefully (but to a much more compulsive degree, for them) they buy lots of saris and consider them high-art (heh). Meanwhile the salwar kameez (and derivatives), or those mix and match kurti-pants style remain the daily fare.
Ouch!! Boy are we articulate today. The words you are looking for are Salwaar and Chunni.
Also, elegance depends on your perceptions my friend. Being Punjabi, I grew up seeing a lot of Salwaar Kameez and Saris both and I think women look quite pretty in Saris but also quite so in Salwaar Kameez.
Pravin, I hate you. The salwar kameez is anything but suffocating (unless you are wearing the incorrect size), and it is not a “compromise between Western wear.” It is a whole style of clothing indigenous to a region, and it is fully functional and can also be quite formal and elegant, depending on the style. Way to be a h8r!!!
Also, it’s not a “towel thing,” it’s a dupatta or chuni, which, I’m pretty sure, exist throughout the subcontinent.
As a FOB in the US for 20 years I can proudly say that I have worn the suit exactly 4 times, 3 of which were for interviews! No, the suit and tie is not something that many desi men opt for, if they have a choice. I do wear lungis like this even now at home.
For the record, I love women in sarees but accept sadly that it is on a downward trend in India at the moment for reasons of convenience.
It’s funny how Tharoor elegantly steps in it every time he pick up his pen. And I say this as a pro-cricket, pro-sari* guy. Sure, a brother can romantisise a piece of cloth, all five yards of it — but there is bit of hectoring uncle-ji about him that makes even valid points unpalatable.
BTW, does anyone remember Jhumpa Lahiri’s Time mag. essay on sari?
“less and less women…” in the post. Ouch…both the sari and English grammar seem to be disappearing.
I agree with ak, if a sari is properly draped it can reveal or hide as necessary, without the acquired pleating/pinning of the anchal…maybe people who don’t look good in a sari simply don’t wear them well? As with any type of clothes, some people just carry clothes better than other people do…
Naattaan, anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. Unless you are living in the pind, how many guys (in India) do you see in traditional attire? My experience says not many. How often do you wear collared shirts and ties? You may not be in a full (Western) suit, but it’s disingenuous to say that it’s hardly worn.
Sister, you do not mince words. Keep up the good fight! Salwars are comfortable. But I’ve never worn a saree so, I can’t weigh in.
“A few months ago, Shashi Tharoor wrote an essay which contained a “casual observation†about how less and less women in India were wearing saris.”
He should be lamenting about men not wearing dhotis as well, why not? Now, it makes sense why he probably wasn’t a good fit for UN head anyways, if this is what is bothering him in this troubled world.
I think Tharoor urgently needs to write an essay on the diminishing contribution of Hawaii chappals to Indian formal wear. Followed quickly by a yearning for the halcyon days of Gilli danda.
Shodan, sorry, I didn’t have the stamina for that. But way for Tharoor to Uncle Tom it with his Danish boss (Dag Hammarskjold? It must be the only time on record he ever expressed an opinion!). But I guess evidence of a spine would have been detrimental to his career prospects in the UN.
As a matter of fact, he did. Check rediff. He did concede there were very few people in politics like Chidambaram(Harvard Graduate) and karunanidhi who wear dhothis.
If Tharoor wanna be the new fly in the Presidents parlor, he better learn something from sweet old ‘charity begins at home‘ Pratibha Patil instead of churning out this yarn.
Sigh!! That brings back memories, along with kanche
The sari is a very inefficient design. There is a lot of cloth wasted and then it does not protect completely against cold and is not optimal for warm weather too. Imagine going to a Indian style toilet in a sari…. Yes it is a traditional(remnant) thing and is good for some days. Aren’t the men glad they got rid of the dhotis?
Camille, I concede your point that Indian men have been quicker to discard native dress as standard daily wear with the adoption of shirt and pant as casual wear. My point was restricted to the much narrower coatu/suttu/tie.
I grew up in Delhi and Chandigarh myself, but somehow all my pre-adolescent crushes were always on women who wore saris – beginning with my 7th grade chemistry teacher. While the married teachers would wear either salwar-kameez or saris – the unmarried ones usually only wore salwar-kameez. The chemistry teacher, however, was an exception – she wore saris though she was unmarried then. Don’t know if that explains anything :)(Beta hunter, are you reading this?).
le – Men can be ad nauseam told not to hold their mom’s pallus – but praising a pallu ??? That’s now out of bounds ? The man made his observations – He didnt dictate – And he has a right to be nostalgic I would hope – The mullah it seems is in all of us
Chache, you are just a chunni hater!!
i’ve only read about the first twenty comments so what i say is definitely a bit of repetition but..seriously. is it just me or is the only reason this is bugging him is because its women? men’s traditional clothing has gone and is definitely only worn by many when they need to invoke and underline the “indian-ness” of their being/attitude/person.
while i agree whole-sale westernization of indian society and culture is unfortunate and frustrating, the “punjabi-ization” of india or its diaspora is a bit extreme, so is the supposed observation that they give masculine names to their female children.i just found this thing rife with masculine mourning of the “lost female”—ick.
Sorry to have been so vehement, I just get so annoyed when folks say “ah the veemen, vy are they vearing the vestern clothing?” Hypocritical!
chachaji, perhaps the sari was more commonly worn when you were growing up? Perhaps you grew up with my great aunts? (kidding!) 😉
bess, I was joking 🙂
yowza, apparently the big women get no love?
sorry people, but i’m grateful for a culture that accepts larger women flaunting their bodies in beautiful silks instead of hiding in muu-muu’s and bemoaning their flesh. if i had to pick between seeing my mothers soft midsection or seeing her ribs, i’ll pick the former. to those of you who don’t like the way “those rolls” look, you’re free to look away and vomit your dinner while i enjoy my cookie 🙂 given all the challenges facing south asian women today, let’s not add eating disorders to the list, eh?
that aside, i echo everyone’s sentiment that the sari really is the most impractical everyday garment ever created. six yards of fabric + 100 degree weather = not cool.
Excellently put. No, it’s not a mystery that men, no longer wearing veshtis/dhotis themselves, are among the most vocal advocates of sari-wearing. Women’s bodies have long been a vital site of nationalist/culturalist inscription. And these kind of articles almost always reinforce–explicitly or not–a damaging inequality: women are primarily for the enjoyment (visual or otherwise) of men, and they have a (moral) responsibility to be attractive for consumption by the male gaze and/or to be icons of collective cultural identity. As much as I also like saris, and feel especially bad for the decline of the handloom craft, I do hope that one good thing may come out of this transition to ‘western’ dress — a substantial decrease in the use of silk, a fabric for which millions of creatures are violently killed every year.
Funny. In Pakistan, the disappearance of the Sari of the last 50 years is blamed on creeping dehinduization. (A cousin of the arabization that replaced “Khuda-hafiz” with “Allah-fizz”– also a new product of Pepsi-Cola of Pakistan (Pvt.).) I never knew that you also lost their Saris.
Camille wrote you are living in the pind, how many guys (in India) do you see in traditional attire?
Pakistani men, including political leaders, continue to wear “traditional attire” — the Shalwar Kurta (although some still think that traditional attire for a political leader is a army uniform). Although Punjabi-ization has replaced the “churidar” pants with the pajama pant.
The guy has clearly lost it since he was so unceremoniously given the middle finger by the rest of the world re the UN job.
Sir Douchebag clearly hasn’t lived in India in a while – you CANNOT wear a sari all day, everyday, especially in the Delhi summer or winter. It’s too cumbersome and uncomfortable – and for the many housewives of Delhi – makes afternoon napping very difficult. Moreover, a salwar is easy-on, easy-off. A sari, not so much.
Areem,
Good point re: the silkworms. You can find “vegetarian silk” though!
chachaji, was srk playing you in main hoon na?
yes, it is quite comprehensive. i love desi fashion – both classic and contemporary. oddly, i am less familiar with the male models – perhaps subconscious objectification of their bodies minus faces? ha ha. but more likely that i pay less attention to male fashion trends. though i must say the kurta-pyjama is a very sexy look for men.
I recommend “Save Darfur” saris for this crowd. Simultaneously philanthropic and aesthetically pleasing. Oh yeah, I went there!
(arem, thanks for conveniently picking out all of these sentences)
get over it.. the sari is nothing more than a ceremonial dress much like the Japanese kimono.
soon the only places you’ll see them in will be weddings and graduations!!
Are you kidding, I play him in real life. Sushmita Sen, however, was playing the Chemistry teacher.
I’ve got to agree with YoDad and others who gave their vote to the sari. I wear it whenever I can and I love it. It makes me feel feminine, elegant and extremely ‘put together’. I have climbed on crowded metro train and have walked all around Georgetown etc with it..almost three miles one day.
There is a way of wearing it and handling it that makes it actually very easy to carry off.
I’ll gladly provide lessons at the next meet up if need be…;)
This thread is very timely for me as I’m contemplating wearing a sari for the first time in my upcoming wedding. My soon-to-be-mother-in-law is bringing it over from India. I am not Desi and have never worn a sari, etc. I’m a bit nervous about the skin-tight shirt part and the midriff exposure as I do have a thick waist. Any of you women have advice on how to wrap the sari in the most flattering way. I want to look nice and not show my stomach or waist. How about a longer choli with more coverage? Doable? Suggestions! Ack… etc.
Hold on, let’s be fair here. Tharoor has a decades-long paper trail and the guy is definitely neither a sexist nor a bigot. He was doing what columnists are supposed to do, which is to provoke a debate. And judging by all these posts, he’s succeeded. As to his own sartorial tastes, he’s seen frequently in kurtas, and in South India he usually appears in the Kerala mundu-veshti combo at all his public functions. The blogger’s comment about the world giving him the “middle finger” was distasteful — everyone knows he came a close second in the race for the UN’s top job, beating all the candidates bar one, only because Washington thought him too independent by comparison with the South Korean they’ve installed there. My friends and I are proud of Shashi Tharoor and look forward to his views in the Hindu and the Times of India, where his are two of the most readable and illuminating columns you can find.
Taroor’s premise of the saree having been around for centuries/millenia is false. Like most things about culture, the saree has changed in form and design over time.
I could go on and on….but I think I already displayed more knowledge than a heterosexual guy should have.
Well, in Pakistani Punjab, shalwar kurtas or Pathani suits have probably replaced the earlier traditional rural attire (which can still be seen, albeit less and less, in India). I think they are called ‘chaadar’ or ‘chaadarey’. Sort of like a dhoti on steroids. The attire of bhangra dancers reflects that, as you can see in this song which actually mentions them in the lyrics. Yes that is Shatrugan Sinha. As for women’s dress, I read somewhere that shalwar kameez is also (relatively) recent and until the late 19th/early 20th century, most women wore those big skirts (ghaghar? ghaghri?)
Pakistani men, including political leaders, continue to wear “traditional attire” — the Shalwar Kurta (although some still think that traditional attire for a political leader is a army uniform). Although Punjabi-ization has replaced the “churidar” pants with the pajama pant.
Its Kameez and not Kurta. Kameez is of a looser and free flowing fit than a kurta.
Well, in Pakistani Punjab, shalwar kurtas or Pathani suits have probably replaced the earlier traditional rural attire (which can still be seen, albeit less and less, in India). I think they are called ‘chaadar’ or ‘chaadarey’. Sort of like a dhoti on steroids
The chaadar is worn over the shalwar kameez and not in its place.
A backstory for those who are bored. 🙂
So. I was swamped at work, because I had to be at the hospital for the rest of the afternoon. I, for no logical reason, felt bad that you didn’t have lunchtime-reading/potential “howling”/optimal procrastination material. My irrational and unnecessary guilt hit at the worst time– I had approximately 10 minutes before I would be late for my first appointment. Skimming the news tab, I saw this, immediately remembered Tharoor’s first essay AND thought of my own family’s issues with saris > salwars. “PERFECT!”, I thought. “Easy to post, tons to discuss.”
Accusations that I am murdering the English language do sting, not because I ever proclaimed myself the queen of grammar, but because some of you have (“Anna, I can’t believe you didn’t catch that ___ in that troll’s comment first!”) and though I never wanted THAT crown, it now shoves my head deeper in to my shoulders, breaking my neck. It’s a bit of pressure, as stupid as that may sound.
I admit, I did not proof or edit this post before hitting publish. Is that my responsibility, my choice and thus, my own fault? Sure. But I thought, “better something hasty, than nothing at all?” Was that wrong?
We have “gone fishing” and despite that, I was trying to initiate a new conversation daily, because I love this space and felt bad that you were getting abruptly cut off from mutinoxycontin. I hoped you would cut me some slack, because it’s summer. Perhaps you should do so even if it weren’t, lest fewer and fewer people decide that putting their thoughts online isn’t worth the nitpicking. I’m not joking– it’s one of the first fears I hear when I approach a potential guest blogger.
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I agree with Shashi, Yo Dad, Msichana and my Mom. While stuck waiting in various Doctors’ offices today, I was joyfully, mentally composing a cute post about why, with one priceless picture. When I have the time to write it once, pray to the grammar deities twice and check it thrice, I’ll see if I can get to it. 😉
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I was taught that fewer was for things which could be counted. Didn’t realize that some of you had exact numbers for women in India who no longer wear saris. 🙂
“* Traditionally women(and men) in the Indian subcontinent did not wear a blouse and left their chest uncovered. Covering breasts is a fairly recent phenomenon and in some remote places its still not very common.”
Now THIS is a cause worth fighting about…
Al Chutiya, I suck at terminology for clothing.
Are we talking about two different things? I’m talking about men’s clothing. Are you referring to burka which women wear? I admit that I’m getting out of my depth here.
Komanams for Tharoor! Bring ’em back!
I never had any veshti skillz, and only a tightly hitched leather belt delicately masked by hanging rolls of cloth stood between me and Spoor Lam’s vision of saffron balls waving everywhere on god’s green earth becoming a reality. BTW, is a black belt acceptable with a cream colored veshti?
p.s. Also, I now feel remiss that I didn’t quote his ENTIRE piece, in which he talks about veshtis and the male gaze and blah blah blah. More of you used to RTOA. 😉
p.p.s. Some of the words I’m getting blamed for, don’t exist in my post! I neither fingered nor distasted Shashi!
“I neither fingered nor distasted Shashi!”
Yes But the poster was reading your mind 🙂
It’s not the kind of music I like, but if you want to see another great-looking woman in a sari, check this out. This one goes out to anyone who ever had a teacher fantasy…
I feel bad that some made the grammar comments, and even worse that you took them to heart. I noticed the “less and less” thing but wouldn’t ever think that’s worth commenting on…
Try not to take the Grammar Police comments personally… a lot of us enjoy your posts, and you can seem from the comments that the issues you raise provide a lot of enjoyment for us readers.
Anna, this was a nice post, and we had a lot of fun with it.
Not that you need anybody’s endorsement, or have to explain yourself overmuch, but that sentence is correct as it stands – the ‘less and less’ applies not to the number of women wearing saris – but to how much they are wearing them – that is, less and less. The number of women who potentially might wear them is the same, but those same women are wearing them less and less. I would position the ‘less and less’ at the end of the sentence if this is what I wanted it to mean, but that’s a minor editing issue, not a grammatical boo-boo. Having said that, I did hesitate over that sentence when I first read it. That’s why one should always read something several times before shooting off pedantic comments. Sigh!
Thanks, Kusala and Chachaji. Not that you needed to. 😉
chachaji – you are not the only one who had the hots for a saree wearing teacher although mine was an English teacher.
Stripping a saree clad woman is a far more enjoyable experience than the getting rid of the salwar / skirt. Also, a saree is a more convenient garment for a quick ‘thappal’ in the park or over the backyard fence. This might sound weird but I have never been turned on by a salwar clad woman. Quite an asexual dress – eeks. Sarees are impractical for day to day activities but all things being equal a saree clad woman is my preference. In Kerala far more men wear wear a mundu to work and college than in other parts of India. Better value for money. Western clothing is great especially a tailored skirt or a free flowing dress. However a lot of Western clothes in India are badly cut and does not fall well. Hopefully, good designers will get involved to rectify the anomaly.
This talk of the sari fading away reminds me of my grandmothers era when a sari wasn’t worn by the women of that generation. Instead a starched Kasavu Mundu and Neriyathu set, that was pleated and draped in a particular way was worn. Saris were for a different class and generation in those days in Kerala. The sari fashion came in my mother’s generation, I think. I believe our Kerala mothers never wore a Kasava Mundu set with the long blouses known as chutta (sp?). They were the new fashion trend setters who wore pavada skirts, half-saris and then graduated to saris. I have never seen my grandmothers or anyone from their generation wear a sari, with the exception of a few, especially teachers. Nowadays I see Kerala women wear a settu sari that is white with gold edging on Onam or special events. It seems like an updated version of the chutta mundu sets our grandmothers wore.
melbourne desi, i see you have already figured out the answer to the question pondered in a suitable boy,’how do you fuck in a sari?’