I only just semi-finalized my end-of-semester travel plans. I leave on the 23rd to go to Jaipur, will spend about 2 days there, take off for Agra for a day to see the Taj Mahal bright and early, leave for Delhi, spend about 4 days there living with my actual host brother, Bharat, then I'm off to the holiest city in India, Varanasi, for a couple of days before coming back to Hyderabad. I'll regroup for about 2 days in Hyderabad then fly off to Kerala for a week to go beach hopping and do an elephant safari and all sorts of cool stuff there. I'll fly back into Hyderabad on either Dec 13 or 14 and have a good 5 days left in Hyderabad to tie up loose ends, hang out with my family, pack and that kind of stuff. I won't even get a chance to see it pass it'll fly by so quickly, but it's gonna be a blast.
On a side note and not-so-happy note, I mentioned in an earlier post that I witnessed my first accident on Diwali. Since then, I've actually seen about 5 accidents. Some worse than others, but the worst one I didn't actually see happen. The worst one all I saw was the massive crowd gathered around the person who caused it and who I can safely assume was getting the shit beat out of him, and I only use such harsh language because anything less wouldn't be descriptive enough for what was really happening. It's just pretty horrifying to actually see happening and know there's nothing you can do about it. It's just how things are here.
Here's the most recent email I sent back to my class. Not really anything new, I think I explained dress code here in detail here already, and the pictures may or may not show up, but here goes nothing:
Who knew time could slip by so quickly? I'm in my final week of classes already!
Again, I haven't been any where new these last couple of weeks, I've had several "going away" dinners to attend and such. Last week the international students put on a Cultural Night for the local students in which those of us who learned tabla or sitar performed. I spent about 15 weeks learning the tabla, which is a set of two drums used in classical Indian music. The sitar is similiar to a guitar but with more strings and a very different sound. It was a really fun show.
I guess here I'll talk a little bit more about what people here wear. For me, the Western and Indian styles have been fun to mix and match.
Boys here wear pretty much whatever they want. Generally, though, that includes shorts and either no shirt or a T-shirt. However, at a certain age, it's no longer acceptable for them to wear shorts and they wear pants instead. It's very rare to see a man in public wearing shorts. I've spotted it maybe 3 times since I've been here. Men wear pants and button up shirts. The shirts tend to be very colorful and with lots of patterns on them. A lot of men here wear pink or lavender shirts without thinking twice about it. At home, often times they'll change into dhotis, which are kind of like skirts for men that can be tied in several different ways. Traditional dhotis are white with a border on the bottom, but these days you can find them with all sorts of prints and colors. All of these men are Hindus.
Muslim boys wear white kurtas and "pajama" bottoms. The kurta is a long shirt that ends around the knee and the pajama bottoms are cotton billowy pants. They also wear a little white cap on their heads. The men wear the same, but sometimes leave off the cap.
Although not as common, sometimes you'll see Sikh men. Sikhs are those who wear the full head wrap and are commonly mistaken for Muslims in the United States. Different sects of Sikhs tie the wrap differently, but it is a common practice for the father of the household and the eldest son to wear the head wrap, but nobody else.
Hindu girls wear what are callled ghagras. This is a two-piece outfit consisting of a long skirt and a semi-structured top in vibrant colors. Lots of them are nicely embroidered or decorated in some way too. Young, unmarried women here wear a salwar kameez, which is again a two piece outfit. This is made up of a kurta, similiar to the men's but in different colors, fabrics and cuts, as well as either the salwar bottoms (like the pajama pants) or what would be the equivalent to our "skinny jean" style cotton pants, which is a fairly new style. A dupatta is always worn along with the salwar kameez, but the dupatta is just another way of saying scarf. Lastly, married women wear a saree. A saree is a long strip of wide fabric made from silk or cotton that gets folded and wrapped onto the women to make a sort of dress. When you buy a saree, it comes with an extra piece of fabric that matches that you take to a tailor and get made into a blouse. From what I've noticed, this pattern follows for Sikh women as well.
Muslim women, however, mostly wear burkhas. Burkhas are long, black one-piece outfits that cover the whole body except the hands, feet, and eyes. However, depending on the sect, some women will cover their head but show their whole face or will only wear the black on the body and will cover their head with their own scarf. I've also met a bunch of unorthodox Muslim women who dress in the Hindu women's style or Western style. There are no absolutes here. A lot of the media in the States portrays burkhas very poorly and as a restriction to women, but most of the muslim women here I've talked to in full burkhas have no problem with them and actually feel safer wearing them in public than wearing anything less. I've found myself even envying them at times for their anonymity.
As an American here, I'm kind of stuck in between. If I wear all American clothes, people assume I'm fresh off the plane without any knowledge of how much things should cost, so they'll try harder to charge me more for rickshaw rides or things in the market. Or, if I wear traditional the traditional Indian salwar kameez, I get some funny looks from people who are confused as to why I'm wearing that. So, instead I mix and match Indian and American styles. I'll either wear salwar bottoms with a shirt I brought with me from the States or I'll wear a kurta top I bought here with jeans or some other kind of bottoms I brought with me. This seems to be a happy medium for everyone, and the Indian clothes are very comfy, billowy, airy and well-designed for such a hot climate.
There's also a bunch of clothes designed around Western traveler's ideas of what Indian dress is, but that's a whole other world of clothing. Not to say I haven't bought any of it, but there's really no way to describe it without seeing it. One common (and popular) item is what they call "Ali Baba" pants. These are kind of like the pants you see Aladdin wearing if you can remember those.
Besides that, if you have any questions or clarifications about anything I've written so far or any new questions, go ahead and send those my way, otherwise I'll get in contact once more before my final trip!
Again, I haven't been any where new these last couple of weeks, I've had several "going away" dinners to attend and such. Last week the international students put on a Cultural Night for the local students in which those of us who learned tabla or sitar performed. I spent about 15 weeks learning the tabla, which is a set of two drums used in classical Indian music. The sitar is similiar to a guitar but with more strings and a very different sound. It was a really fun show.
I guess here I'll talk a little bit more about what people here wear. For me, the Western and Indian styles have been fun to mix and match.
Boys here wear pretty much whatever they want. Generally, though, that includes shorts and either no shirt or a T-shirt. However, at a certain age, it's no longer acceptable for them to wear shorts and they wear pants instead. It's very rare to see a man in public wearing shorts. I've spotted it maybe 3 times since I've been here. Men wear pants and button up shirts. The shirts tend to be very colorful and with lots of patterns on them. A lot of men here wear pink or lavender shirts without thinking twice about it. At home, often times they'll change into dhotis, which are kind of like skirts for men that can be tied in several different ways. Traditional dhotis are white with a border on the bottom, but these days you can find them with all sorts of prints and colors. All of these men are Hindus.
Muslim boys wear white kurtas and "pajama" bottoms. The kurta is a long shirt that ends around the knee and the pajama bottoms are cotton billowy pants. They also wear a little white cap on their heads. The men wear the same, but sometimes leave off the cap.
Although not as common, sometimes you'll see Sikh men. Sikhs are those who wear the full head wrap and are commonly mistaken for Muslims in the United States. Different sects of Sikhs tie the wrap differently, but it is a common practice for the father of the household and the eldest son to wear the head wrap, but nobody else.
Hindu girls wear what are callled ghagras. This is a two-piece outfit consisting of a long skirt and a semi-structured top in vibrant colors. Lots of them are nicely embroidered or decorated in some way too. Young, unmarried women here wear a salwar kameez, which is again a two piece outfit. This is made up of a kurta, similiar to the men's but in different colors, fabrics and cuts, as well as either the salwar bottoms (like the pajama pants) or what would be the equivalent to our "skinny jean" style cotton pants, which is a fairly new style. A dupatta is always worn along with the salwar kameez, but the dupatta is just another way of saying scarf. Lastly, married women wear a saree. A saree is a long strip of wide fabric made from silk or cotton that gets folded and wrapped onto the women to make a sort of dress. When you buy a saree, it comes with an extra piece of fabric that matches that you take to a tailor and get made into a blouse. From what I've noticed, this pattern follows for Sikh women as well.
Muslim women, however, mostly wear burkhas. Burkhas are long, black one-piece outfits that cover the whole body except the hands, feet, and eyes. However, depending on the sect, some women will cover their head but show their whole face or will only wear the black on the body and will cover their head with their own scarf. I've also met a bunch of unorthodox Muslim women who dress in the Hindu women's style or Western style. There are no absolutes here. A lot of the media in the States portrays burkhas very poorly and as a restriction to women, but most of the muslim women here I've talked to in full burkhas have no problem with them and actually feel safer wearing them in public than wearing anything less. I've found myself even envying them at times for their anonymity.
As an American here, I'm kind of stuck in between. If I wear all American clothes, people assume I'm fresh off the plane without any knowledge of how much things should cost, so they'll try harder to charge me more for rickshaw rides or things in the market. Or, if I wear traditional the traditional Indian salwar kameez, I get some funny looks from people who are confused as to why I'm wearing that. So, instead I mix and match Indian and American styles. I'll either wear salwar bottoms with a shirt I brought with me from the States or I'll wear a kurta top I bought here with jeans or some other kind of bottoms I brought with me. This seems to be a happy medium for everyone, and the Indian clothes are very comfy, billowy, airy and well-designed for such a hot climate.
There's also a bunch of clothes designed around Western traveler's ideas of what Indian dress is, but that's a whole other world of clothing. Not to say I haven't bought any of it, but there's really no way to describe it without seeing it. One common (and popular) item is what they call "Ali Baba" pants. These are kind of like the pants you see Aladdin wearing if you can remember those.
Besides that, if you have any questions or clarifications about anything I've written so far or any new questions, go ahead and send those my way, otherwise I'll get in contact once more before my final trip!
No comments:
Post a Comment