WARNING: The following content WILL not appease many or all women, especially malayalee pennungal (women). Some men also might not agree. Read & React at will.
The traditional costume of women from Kerala is 'Mundum and Neriyathum'.
The mundum neriyathum consists of two pieces of cloth, the mundu draped on the lower part of the body around the hips while the neriyathu the upper part worn over the left shoulder above the blouse. It generally comes in cream and white texture with a coloured border known as the kara. There are various versions of this age old costume. Kasavu saree, for instance has golden coloured border which is either pure golden layer or artificial. Set-mundu is yet another version that resembles the mundum neriaythu but is from a single piece of cloth. It is true that mundum-neriyathum is indeed the traditional clothing of women in Kerala.
STOP! Enough of educating the public. Prasangam niruthu, kaaryathilekku kadakku (Stop your speech and get to the point)
A new form of clothing has invaded the minds of women. I'm not really sure when this POWERFUL attire took control of our women. I say this because it is currently the most famous , the most seen, the most common, and all the other mosts.....dress worn by most women, at least in Kerala. Bhariamar (house wives) wear it, jolikari (home servants or home maids) wear it, ammummas (grandmoms) wear it, kandattile pannikari (women working in the rice fields, whatever is left in kerala :-() wear it, cooli pannikari (women construction workers), pavappattavaru (poor) wear it, pannakkaru (rich) wear it, so there isn't any group that's not bitten by this transformation bug.
I will no longer extend the suspense. It is known by many names. Here are a few I know of - Nightie, Nightshirt, Nightgown and the latest one just released Housecoat. These are the drendy (trendy) names. As the name, it also has drendy designs which could put Rohit Bal or Tarun Tahiliani to shame. I don't even want to go there to explain it. But I would like to take this opportunity to mention its newest avatar (form).
The avatar does not take time to switch from home wear to outdoor wear because all it takes is to grab a duppatta (long scarf) and wear it across both the shoulders or wear it like a cape and you are ready to leave. It does not matter if the duppatta matches with the housecoat. The more the contrast the more drendy. Faaashionable doalls they arrre........(fashionable dolls they are). Now isn't that a fast or what?? :-)
Next time you are in Kerala, look around you. You will know what I mean. This latest drend should be worn at bedtime as the name suggests and not as a clothing for all & every occasion.
P.B- The Housecoat is not the replacement but the most common attire found aplenty in Kerala and hence the traditional dress of Gods own country.
Showing posts with label get reactive. Show all posts
Showing posts with label get reactive. Show all posts
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Not sooo nalla Bengalooru!!!
Horrid is not the word, if I knew something even harsher that would've been only too less what I went through today morning. How do you rate our city as the IT capital of India?? It could be with the number of IT companies opening up new branches here but the government is shutting its eyes on the very basic amenities that people need.
I had been to the BANGALORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT(just the name, nothing NATIONAL about it, to say the least) to receive my cousin who was scheduled to arrive at 3:00 AM. I did read about an article the other day on TIMES OF INDIA about 'Mosquitoes invading the city', but little did I know that it was such a serious issue. I couldn't stand at one place and had to keep moving my arms and face to escape from these pests. This was just the beginning of my misery. The arrival terminal was deserted with a few airport staffs. Now I had to know if the flight was on time and to my surprise there was no place or person who could help me with that. Atlast one of the staff member requested me to go over to the other area and I just might find some assistance. With some relief I went to the other side and found the new INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURE block still under construction. Metal sheets, iron rods, glass panes all spread across the floor and in the middle of the rubble a tiny board with an arrow to the left that said "Departure boarding area". You decide for yourself, do I need to say more? Finally I did find the flights arrival information board placed inside the departure terminal(god knows why) that had an entry which was 2 days old(very efficient). I had no choice but to wait and hope the flights on time. I kept calling the flight enquiry department but no one even bothered to answer it. There were some friendly airport staffs who had the heart to tell me that the flight might arrive at 5:00 but not reliable sources though. I was still just hanging on to my own wits. There was a closed network TV but it was only showing a popular news channel when the public needed information about the flight statuses. At 5:10 the TV switches to the flight status mode and I read 'Flight arrived at 5:00'. If only the airport authorities had the intelligence or basic sense to see the problem from the publics angle. We become helpless victims for their mismanagement.
I felt so atrocious by the end of it and you can imagine the very many tourists who visits our country. They would feel the same. We should learn from other countries, its not a direct comparison and I wouldn't like to do that, but we cannot compromise on not having the very elemental needs be it any public facility. According to me the public facilities should be AS BEST AS IT CAN GET, PERIOD. The rest will follow suit.
I hope atleast a few would share my opinion if given a visit to our Bengalooru airport.
I had been to the BANGALORE INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT(just the name, nothing NATIONAL about it, to say the least) to receive my cousin who was scheduled to arrive at 3:00 AM. I did read about an article the other day on TIMES OF INDIA about 'Mosquitoes invading the city', but little did I know that it was such a serious issue. I couldn't stand at one place and had to keep moving my arms and face to escape from these pests. This was just the beginning of my misery. The arrival terminal was deserted with a few airport staffs. Now I had to know if the flight was on time and to my surprise there was no place or person who could help me with that. Atlast one of the staff member requested me to go over to the other area and I just might find some assistance. With some relief I went to the other side and found the new INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURE block still under construction. Metal sheets, iron rods, glass panes all spread across the floor and in the middle of the rubble a tiny board with an arrow to the left that said "Departure boarding area". You decide for yourself, do I need to say more? Finally I did find the flights arrival information board placed inside the departure terminal(god knows why) that had an entry which was 2 days old(very efficient). I had no choice but to wait and hope the flights on time. I kept calling the flight enquiry department but no one even bothered to answer it. There were some friendly airport staffs who had the heart to tell me that the flight might arrive at 5:00 but not reliable sources though. I was still just hanging on to my own wits. There was a closed network TV but it was only showing a popular news channel when the public needed information about the flight statuses. At 5:10 the TV switches to the flight status mode and I read 'Flight arrived at 5:00'. If only the airport authorities had the intelligence or basic sense to see the problem from the publics angle. We become helpless victims for their mismanagement.
I felt so atrocious by the end of it and you can imagine the very many tourists who visits our country. They would feel the same. We should learn from other countries, its not a direct comparison and I wouldn't like to do that, but we cannot compromise on not having the very elemental needs be it any public facility. According to me the public facilities should be AS BEST AS IT CAN GET, PERIOD. The rest will follow suit.
I hope atleast a few would share my opinion if given a visit to our Bengalooru airport.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
The English Malayalee!!!
This blog is dedicated to all the English malayalees out there! Read on...
English has become a very widely spoken language in India. We could call it the world language. But does it have to be at the cost of our mother tongue. I'm not against the english language but it shouldn't be that our languages are forgotten. I say this because there are many out there who prides in saying ‘I don’t know malayalam’. That’s what I’m against, why should a person well versed in English don’t show half as much interest in learning their native language. There are yet some others who think that Malayalam is a under rated language, it does not suit to their culture (whatever that means). Culture… did I write that correct??? When did he fall into the English culture haha…….? Maybe only he can tell. We don’t become an American if in America or English if in UK, we WILL always be an INDIAN MALAYALEE however we look at it.
We move on to new frontiers pursuing our careers or driven by passion to live in other countries and we comfortably ignore our roots. We don’t even have to talk about Indian born foreigners, we have such people in our midst that we get to meet in our daily life. This is my viewpoint:
1. We have to explore new grounds to pursue our goals.
2. We can move to other locations of the world driven by passion and is purely an individual’s discretion.
3. It needs a big effort to master a new language and why not go for it if there is an urge.
But but but this does not automatically mean we forget our mother tongue-Malayalam. We should give the same importance as we give the English language. I’m not saying we should be an expert but we should at least be able to read and write Malayalam. There is no point in calling one a malayalee if you don’t know how our letters look like. I’d only put the onus on the parents. They need to take the initiative to groom their lards when they are old enough to learn. We should encourage speaking our mother tongue at home. This is a good starter. I have never gone to any Malayalam medium school but yet I know to read and write my language. Thanks to my mom.
I think this is not just a matter of concern around Malayalees but I would have the same opinion about people from all the other regions of India.
Never forget that we are Indians first.
English has become a very widely spoken language in India. We could call it the world language. But does it have to be at the cost of our mother tongue. I'm not against the english language but it shouldn't be that our languages are forgotten. I say this because there are many out there who prides in saying ‘I don’t know malayalam’. That’s what I’m against, why should a person well versed in English don’t show half as much interest in learning their native language. There are yet some others who think that Malayalam is a under rated language, it does not suit to their culture (whatever that means). Culture… did I write that correct??? When did he fall into the English culture haha…….? Maybe only he can tell. We don’t become an American if in America or English if in UK, we WILL always be an INDIAN MALAYALEE however we look at it.
We move on to new frontiers pursuing our careers or driven by passion to live in other countries and we comfortably ignore our roots. We don’t even have to talk about Indian born foreigners, we have such people in our midst that we get to meet in our daily life. This is my viewpoint:
1. We have to explore new grounds to pursue our goals.
2. We can move to other locations of the world driven by passion and is purely an individual’s discretion.
3. It needs a big effort to master a new language and why not go for it if there is an urge.
But but but this does not automatically mean we forget our mother tongue-Malayalam. We should give the same importance as we give the English language. I’m not saying we should be an expert but we should at least be able to read and write Malayalam. There is no point in calling one a malayalee if you don’t know how our letters look like. I’d only put the onus on the parents. They need to take the initiative to groom their lards when they are old enough to learn. We should encourage speaking our mother tongue at home. This is a good starter. I have never gone to any Malayalam medium school but yet I know to read and write my language. Thanks to my mom.
I think this is not just a matter of concern around Malayalees but I would have the same opinion about people from all the other regions of India.
Never forget that we are Indians first.
Friday, December 16, 2005
Double Standards--Why are we like that.....???
This is not any from my memories but an opinion I think should be here...read on..
Have we ever thought about this seriously?
We blame the local authorities for not keeping public premises clean. How many among us have really thought what we can do as an individual...very few compared to the other part of the general public. We are right at the top when it comes to the blaming game but none of us think radically. The problem is not restricted to only the uneducated classes(which is understandable), it is widespread among the educated and so called elite class. They are perfect when it comes to keeping their private homes spic and span, but away from home, they have different rules in store. Why??? I've seen numerous occasions when people throw trash right out of their car windows or even spitting for that matter. Talking about spitting, its a kind of a birth right in India. But mind you...the same people, when they are in other countries obey the laws and respect their rules and regulations. We Indians only think about the RIGHTS we have and safely forget our DUTIES. I am not perfect when I write this but I can proudly say I've done my part in this regard. The other day my 4 year old son had a piece of chocolate wrapper in his pocket. When I asked him why it was there, he told me that he did not find a dust bin the school van and did not want to throw it outside, he bought it home to dispose it in our home trash can. Believe it or not. IT IS POSSIBLE.
I have always wondered why we exhibit this sort of double standards.
Is it because of the fear that we are in an alien nation we exhibit the change in character? OR
Does the vast freedom we enjoy in India serve as a prerequisite to be unethical? OR
Is it a purposeful ignorance?
I would say 'PURE IGNORANCE'. Why do we do that? Coz others are also doing it and why not I?-->mentality. We all know what is right but just being ignorant and 'everything goes here' sense of feeling is here to stay, until this is wiped out, we will not change. This holds good for other basic behaviors-
1. Obeying traffic rules which we don't.
2. Traveling without a valid ticket. If not many but there are people who do it for the kick of it. Will you do it anywhere else????
With this BLOG I am not going to change India overnight but atleast I can convey what I feel is right through this medium. I'm sure many who read this will agree with me. These are for sure trivial things but at the same time a serious topic each of us should think about.
Lets do something for a change!!!!
Have we ever thought about this seriously?
We blame the local authorities for not keeping public premises clean. How many among us have really thought what we can do as an individual...very few compared to the other part of the general public. We are right at the top when it comes to the blaming game but none of us think radically. The problem is not restricted to only the uneducated classes(which is understandable), it is widespread among the educated and so called elite class. They are perfect when it comes to keeping their private homes spic and span, but away from home, they have different rules in store. Why??? I've seen numerous occasions when people throw trash right out of their car windows or even spitting for that matter. Talking about spitting, its a kind of a birth right in India. But mind you...the same people, when they are in other countries obey the laws and respect their rules and regulations. We Indians only think about the RIGHTS we have and safely forget our DUTIES. I am not perfect when I write this but I can proudly say I've done my part in this regard. The other day my 4 year old son had a piece of chocolate wrapper in his pocket. When I asked him why it was there, he told me that he did not find a dust bin the school van and did not want to throw it outside, he bought it home to dispose it in our home trash can. Believe it or not. IT IS POSSIBLE.
I have always wondered why we exhibit this sort of double standards.
Is it because of the fear that we are in an alien nation we exhibit the change in character? OR
Does the vast freedom we enjoy in India serve as a prerequisite to be unethical? OR
Is it a purposeful ignorance?
I would say 'PURE IGNORANCE'. Why do we do that? Coz others are also doing it and why not I?-->mentality. We all know what is right but just being ignorant and 'everything goes here' sense of feeling is here to stay, until this is wiped out, we will not change. This holds good for other basic behaviors-
1. Obeying traffic rules which we don't.
2. Traveling without a valid ticket. If not many but there are people who do it for the kick of it. Will you do it anywhere else????
With this BLOG I am not going to change India overnight but atleast I can convey what I feel is right through this medium. I'm sure many who read this will agree with me. These are for sure trivial things but at the same time a serious topic each of us should think about.
Lets do something for a change!!!!
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