Metro Plus
Chennai
Hyderabad
Not trendy by half
|
While the sari remains popular, the half-sari has lost to a variety of North Indian and Western wear. A look at changing preferences and styles...
|
THE YOUNG women of Chennai exude confidence and poise as they walk down the road, travel to their work spots or even jostle each other in crowded college corridors. Their dress sense is impeccable and they are no more to be labelled as conventional in their attire. They are on a par with their counterparts in the other cities. But as we watch them in their trousers, salwars or even the causal jeans and T-shirts, what strikes one is the absence of the traditional dress of the young woman of Tamil Nadu — the pavadai thavani.
Most Indian dresses have held their own against the onslaught of Western apparel. The sari still remains the favourite of the young and the old. Says Sreyessy, an undergraduate in a city college, "The sari makes even the most ordinary woman look exotic, traditional, cultured and beautiful." All agree that the sari can be worn to emphasise curves or to hide flab.
The salwar has cut across age and class barriers to become the most popular dress in India. It is convenient, modest, economical and above all, Indian. Among the very young, it concedes in popularity only to jeans and T-shirts. Even ghagras, shararas and lehenga-cholis have become popular as party wear. So while these dresses have gained pan-Indian appeal, why is it that the half-sari seems to be disappearing altogether?
Just a couple of decades ago, the half-sari besides being the traditional dress, was also the most popular dress of young girls in Tamil Nadu. The pride of a girl's wardrobe was the pattu-pavadai, worn with a half-sari to match its border. There was no dress that belonged so exclusively to the budding young woman and no woman past her teens would wear it. The half-sari was a transition from the pavadai to the sari, from girlhood to womanhood. It prepared a young girl for the more cumbersome nine yards, or the more modern six metres.
The half-sari draped over the blouse, with one end tucked into the pavadai, gave a young girl freedom to gambol around and at the same time taught her to be more conscious of herself and her dress. But while the sari remains popular, the half-sari has lost to a variety of North Indian and Western dresses. Responding to a questionnaire, many young girls said they did not own even one set of this traditional dress. Even those who owned it confessed they rarely wore it. When asked what they thought of the half-sari, surprisingly many young girls were vociferous in denouncing it. Nandini, 18, stated, "To be honest, I feel half-saris belong to a previous century. Never in my life will I wear one." Many young girls feel that half-saris are indecent and revealing and should be banned. A few girls said they liked the dress but found it inconvenient. Given this trend, a half-sari may soon survive only in faded photographs of the older generation and the unrealistic creations of tinsel town.
HANIFA GHOSH
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Metro Plus
Chennai
Hyderabad
|
