03-17-2010, 09:43 AM
To be comfortable in your second skin
Author: Jerry Pinto
Publication: Moneycontrol.com
Date: June 14, 2006
URL:
http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/...cle/219664
I wonder why all of us men of the East have no confidence in our own traditions as far as dress codes go. Japanese men won't wear kimonos to work and Indian men won't wear kurtas. As soon as a young man earns his MBA, he retires all his Indian clothes and gets himself a wardrobe of suits. Never mind that the suit is completely unsuitable for tropical climates.
But then it seems to start young, with men. First, they climb into jeans, which don't suit our climate either. They are so hot in summer that when you take them off, you actually feel the trapped heat escape. In the rains, they get wet and take ages to dry which means you walk into an office - which has been air-conditioned to keep the men in suits cool - and you stay wet and cold all day. In the winter, they're fine but how many cities in India have a winter?
And yet we don't think of anything except triple spun cotton as denim. We want to be hot and uncomfortable. We choose it. What is this about? Masochism? Or simply a lack of confidence?
The argument is that men in Indian clothes do not look businesslike. I don't understand this argument and I don't buy it. If a woman in a salwar-kameez looks businesslike, then a man in a kurta should look businesslike. If a woman in a sari looks like she is ready to take on the world, a man in a sherwani should look like he is ready to schmooze with foreign clients. This is one of those few instances, in which the world works better for women and where being a male works against men. (The other instance I can think of is being a male model!)
I am not arguing this from some swadeshi stance, although I do think India produces some pretty nice things and we should use them. I am not arguing this from some strange 'Indianness' position, because I would not be able to define it or even describe it. I am arguing this from the position of comfort, of ergonomics.
A kurta would keep you cool in the sun; it would keep you warm in the office. Pyjamas of some natural fabric would let you breathe, and they would dry fast if you got them wet in some thundershower. And the cut of the outfit is far more flattering to Indian men than western clothes. Put a pot-bellied old plutocrat into a well-cut kurta and a multitude of sins of commission (too many buffets, too much chaakna, too many expense account martinis) and sins of omission (days skipped at the gym, the golf course or wherever), will be flatteringly hidden.
Now, all we need is for someone with a great deal of self-confidence to go and do it. The rest wouldn't follow. The rich and powerful are status quo-ist at best and at worst, afraid of change. But it would be a beginning.
And we would all be a lot more comfortable.
Jerry Pinto
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0706/76.html
Author: Jerry Pinto
Publication: Moneycontrol.com
Date: June 14, 2006
URL:
http://news.moneycontrol.com/india/news/...cle/219664
I wonder why all of us men of the East have no confidence in our own traditions as far as dress codes go. Japanese men won't wear kimonos to work and Indian men won't wear kurtas. As soon as a young man earns his MBA, he retires all his Indian clothes and gets himself a wardrobe of suits. Never mind that the suit is completely unsuitable for tropical climates.
But then it seems to start young, with men. First, they climb into jeans, which don't suit our climate either. They are so hot in summer that when you take them off, you actually feel the trapped heat escape. In the rains, they get wet and take ages to dry which means you walk into an office - which has been air-conditioned to keep the men in suits cool - and you stay wet and cold all day. In the winter, they're fine but how many cities in India have a winter?
And yet we don't think of anything except triple spun cotton as denim. We want to be hot and uncomfortable. We choose it. What is this about? Masochism? Or simply a lack of confidence?
The argument is that men in Indian clothes do not look businesslike. I don't understand this argument and I don't buy it. If a woman in a salwar-kameez looks businesslike, then a man in a kurta should look businesslike. If a woman in a sari looks like she is ready to take on the world, a man in a sherwani should look like he is ready to schmooze with foreign clients. This is one of those few instances, in which the world works better for women and where being a male works against men. (The other instance I can think of is being a male model!)
I am not arguing this from some swadeshi stance, although I do think India produces some pretty nice things and we should use them. I am not arguing this from some strange 'Indianness' position, because I would not be able to define it or even describe it. I am arguing this from the position of comfort, of ergonomics.
A kurta would keep you cool in the sun; it would keep you warm in the office. Pyjamas of some natural fabric would let you breathe, and they would dry fast if you got them wet in some thundershower. And the cut of the outfit is far more flattering to Indian men than western clothes. Put a pot-bellied old plutocrat into a well-cut kurta and a multitude of sins of commission (too many buffets, too much chaakna, too many expense account martinis) and sins of omission (days skipped at the gym, the golf course or wherever), will be flatteringly hidden.
Now, all we need is for someone with a great deal of self-confidence to go and do it. The rest wouldn't follow. The rich and powerful are status quo-ist at best and at worst, afraid of change. But it would be a beginning.
And we would all be a lot more comfortable.
Jerry Pinto
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0706/76.html