White Salwar Suit

This is from the time I was in the beginning of first year in my college back home. I was still a very new and shy student there. And since there were very few girls in the college, we all got a lot of attention, no matter how we looked.

My sis had got a new salwar suit for me. It was white overall; I wish I knew all those five hundred and some shades of white so that I could tell you exactly which one it was, but I don't know, so let's just go with pure white. It had a little purple and green patchwork on the front. For dupatta she had got me a khadi like dark purple one. On it, in light pink color there were messages written in various languages. You know, the kind when alphabets of different languages are artistically linked together to form words that make no sense. Looked pretty like vines were spread across it. 

Overall, the outfit looked dhamaal. When I wore it I felt like I was doing a commercial for 'Surf ki safedi', or some such washing detergent, it was that shiny. I wore a white slip under it, so that made it shine even brighter. I put the starched duppata on just the right shoulder.

So anyway, the first time I wore it, it was a half day and we had to just go to one lab that day. And then we had to go to the office for something.

It felt a little weird during the lab, but then I have no idea what happened as we walked across the front of the college from our department to go to the office. I felt burned by more than a hundred pairs of eyes on me. My friend who walked with me felt it too. Boys everywhere looking at me. Boys sitting on their bikes in the parking lot, on the corridors of the first floor, second floor, third floor, all stopping whatever they were doing to look at me. Oh, all the girls too. And I am not kidding, even the teachers. They made no pretensions about staring at me too. Plain straight stares.

I became so cautious that I began walking slowly. So did my friend. We were sensing it all and mumbling to each other asking each other what happened. It was a huge campus and we were walking literally from one end towards the center and then beyond. For once I felt like I was naked in public, and began sweating out of fear. My friend said maybe they like this new outfit. But being more realistic, I asked my friend to see if everything was all right with me. I was sure someone in my class had stuck some kinda offensive paper/artwork on my back or hair. Or maybe I spilled something on my otherwise pure white clothes. She first went a little in front of me, as I was too frozen to even look down at myself. She slowly checked out my front. All clear. Hair and face clear too. Then she slowed down a little, and while I moved forward, she checked my back up and down. She had to do it as discretely as possible, coz really, literally the whole college was looking at us. Back was clear too. I was puzzled then. She just laughed and said that I am looking very good in this new salwar suit, and hence the stares. But it didn't make sense. Somehow we got our business done and got the hell out of there.

Anyway, I got so wary of that outfit, that I didn't wear it again for the rest of that season and skipped that summer too. I took it out again the next summer, towards the end of second year. This time I didn't wear a slip inside, so it was not glaringly white against my skin's backdrop; and I casually folded the dupatta around my neck instead of letting it hang on one side. Also in second year, we used to go to the college very early, so the college was empty when we went in. No weird reactions in the class too. All was good.

Then in lunch time, one of my now-good friends came by to sit together. He said in a complaining tone, 'Vidya, you shouldn't be wearing this dupatta to college'. I was like, what? why? He goes, 'For last three periods we have been trying to figure out what's written on it. It looks as if you are making some big statement with this duppata. But there is nothing on it. Took us all morning to figure it out. Missed the entire lectures. Don't do this to us again'.



Light bulb moment for me. NOW I knew what had happened almost two years ago.

this reminded me of a white salwar suit i had. no patch work, no other color on it. plain simple self textured white cotton fabric. it was knee length harleen kaur type very simple kurta. regular salwar. very well fitted suit.

i used to wear it with red bandhni dupatta and once on a hot summer day when i wore the suit all day, the red color from dupatta came on both shoulders and sleeves a bit  

it was pretty and i looked bawaal in it.

lol...

i don't wear white too much these days. All black most days.

This took me back to 8th grade. We were out on Rajasthan trip in the month of December. The undergarments didn't dry in the cold. One of the girls apparently didn't have more clean pairs. So she decided to wear a slightly-damp one.

yellow pants. green panty patch over it.

damn lol 

of all the places...stuff didnt dry soon enough in rajasthan...lololol

reminded me of this kahawat,

jab kismat kharab ho toh oont par baithe insaan ko bhi kutta kaat leta hai

'For last three periods we have been trying to figure out what's written on it. It looks as if you are making some big statement with this duppata. But there is nothing on it.

>>>Too anti climactic. I thought there was going to be something raunchier. Instead you give us a bunch of nerdy kids who are obsessed with the written word. Rishi- he of Manjay fame- remains unmatched.