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Mythili in mundu blouse

Mythili in mundu blouse

Hi there,

   I'll be concentrating on lungi-blouse in this blog because that attire definitely needs acceptance in the society. And I must confess I am a fan of it because of various reasons.
  These days I happen to notice that there are a few movies in which the lead actress has appeared in Lungi/mundu-blouse. This is as the part of the script and not to add the 'glam' factor (I just don't understand why the 'glam' factor; for god sake its just like any other dress). More recent ones are the  Palerimanikam and Neelathamara.

Mythili in mundu blouse

Archana in mundu blouse

In both the movies the young actresses have worn mundu and blouse without thorthu as in those days. They look beautiful in the dress and I should say that they DON'T LOOK SLUTTY at all. I hope that the message is conveyed to all who have watched these movies.
The girl who played the lead role of Manikam in Palerimanikam, Mythili, was asked by her director to practice wearing mundu-blouse at home so that she won't look weird on screen in that attire. And I think she did follow it because she seemed natural on screen in it. Which means she wore that dress at home, and none found it weird. Or nobody thought she has become slutty.
I know a few girls who wouldn't mind to wear mundu-blouse at home, that includes my cousin sister too. For them its just a dress, like saree or set-mundu which they wear once in a while at home. Only thing that keeps them from not wearing mundu-blouse is this false image associated with it. People shouldn't be so narrow minded, after all we are criticizing one of our traditional dress. At the same time we accept the dressing styles equally questionable (if mundu/lungi-blouse can be questioned for modesty then so can all other be) from other states or even continent. If girls want to wear it, let them wear it. Leave them alone. Don't point fingers or say it is inappropriate to wear it, because it is not inappropriate.

When I visited my cousin Shailaja last week with my idea of this blog she was ready to share her experiences for me. She, unlike me, grew up in village in Palakat. She was used to seeing this kind of attire every day until she moved to Ernakulam town. Back in her native place she was used to wearing set-mundu (Mundum Neriyathum) everyday at home. She only wore churidhars when she went for shopping or any other purpose outside the village, to the town. She was brought up like that, her parents are very traditional. She never complained.
"Its all about getting used to.", she said. She had a hard time adjusting to city life of Ernakulam when she moved in here as a part of job." I was under dressed for the city , thats what my room mates said. True it was I just had a few churidhars to wear to office and set-mundu for the hostel. Absence of jeans and kurtas in my cupboard surprised them. I had to adjust, so I bought few new churidhars for office and nightie for hostel as per my room mates suggestion. Churidhars were fine, I have worn them but nightie was a disaster. I have never worn one until that day. I just wasn't used to wearing it. I was comfortable in my set mundu. But now I am okay. I do wear nighties but I wear set-mundu every alternate days."

Mythili in mundu blouse

She recalls seeing her room mate surprised when once she saw her in mundu blouse (set mundu without the mel mundu or neriyath). "It was normal for me. At home , you have seen me so plenty of times haven't you? At home it was normal not to use the mel mundu all the time. I preferred it so when I am alone or in comfortable company. So I was just being normal that evening and my room mate was all surprised. She said it is not good to wear such dress ,it is not appropriate. I said its all fine and told her its just for the room, I wont go out like this, I will wear the melmundu if I have to go out. To comfort her I wore a thorthu over my blouse. She wasn't completely happy but she was okay. I just couldn't understand why? It is fine for her if I wore nightie and even walk out of the hostel to the near by shop. But mundu-blouse was unacceptable. That was a lesson I learned after I came here. Now that I have moved to an apartment, I have wear only mundu blouse when I am with my self but still change into nightie if I have a visitor."

This is RM signing off.