Lungi Blouse in College.

Hi all,

Lungi blouse in Talent show

Lungi blouse in Talent show

Lungi blouse in Talent show

Lungi blouse in Talent show

Lungi blouse in Talent show

Lungi blouse in Talent show

      Few days back, I was visited by a cousin of mine. She's couple of years younger than me. She has was a frequent visitor to my fiancee's apartment when we were in Banglore and she knows everything about Saranya's and mine fascination with Traditional attire and has seen Saranya in Lungi many times.

Like most of my family members, she doesn't have any problem with Lungi Blouse and consider it as just another attire. She loves wearing Set-mundu but never tried wearing Lungi.

Okay, the whole point of this article is the tell you guys about an incident in which one of my cousin's classmate (a malayali girl from Ernakulam) wore lungi blouse to their college. There was some kind of college fest which spanned over couple of days in their college and each day had a theme. One day was themed 'Tapori day' or something .On that day , they were free to dress up as 'taporis' (gangster style; more like tamil rural/slum style). So on the night before the Tapori day(I am still not sure , if it was called so..I dont exactly remember the word she used), my cousin and her room mates were having a discussion on what to wear. Many had bought low cost sarees and wore it in the most pathetic way (as if the saree fell off and they had tugged the whole thing up some how) and with all the dirty hair-do, they all looked like kamwali-bhais or maids just after work. (She did share photos of the day with me and I should say, with those low cut/ backless blouses and sarees (how ever loosely worn) they did hot to me ). Even my cousin had chose to wear a similar outfit. The only girl left was her friend from Ernakulam and to her (my cousin's) surprise, she had chose to wear  lungi blouse and thorthu. None of the other girls had anything to say about it as they were seeing it for the first time. My cousin was the only other malayali in that apartment. And the person she is, she found it good and encouraged her friend.

And her friend did wear it to her college. In broad daylight for every one to see. She confessed to my cousin that she wanted to wear it in public someday and this was the chance for her to come out wearing lungi blouse in public without being scrutinized by public.  And she loved the experience. She wore it the whole day and didn't change even after others did.

So the point is, Girls do want to wear Lungi Blouse. Its just that they dont get a chance to wear it without fingers being pointed at them. When my cousin's friend got a chance to, she happy wore it. And I believe most of the girls who adorn Lungi bouse in reality TV , chose to wear it because they can wear it without being looked down upon( They have a choice not to wear lungi blouse and can go for a saree but still they wear it) . If society decides not to look down upon this dress, I bet there will be more girls (from younger generations) ready to try out Lungi bouse in public and wear it as any other normal dress.

P.S: I am sorry but I cant share the pictures my cousin showed me here.

In Conversation : Lady in Blue.

Hi all,

 I will be sharing a conversation we (my fiancee and I ) had with a friend of hers who visited us yesterday. Adhering to the policy of no names taken, she will be called the lady in blue ( the color of her dress).

It was a normal friday yesterday and I had chosen to work from home. I do so when ever possible because I hate going out in this summer heat. My fiancee took the day off as she too was tired of all the traveling we did in last few weeks. At about ten in the morning she got a call from her old classmate/roommate from her college days in Kerala : the Lady in Blue (LiB). LiB, was a fascinating character back in the college (my fiancee recalls). "she was everything I was not. She hated traditional dresses ; never worn a saree; hated when I wore set-mundu..and all these even though she was a malayali....exactly the girl from the future."

Sexy, Practical and 100% genuine Kerala Style.

LiB was in Pune for some interview; My fiancee had asked her to drop in and stay for the night if she wants to. And so she did.

"You know, Rohit. She hated set mundu. She used to say that the dress sense of malayalis are crap. She loves all kinds of modern dresses. She says we need to stay in fashion...emm.... you'll see when she arrives... Back in the college hostel , I had limitations, I couldn't always were traditional dresses..If I could that would have ****** her off...."
"So are you gonna were set mundu just to tease her??"
"nah,..I got a better idea.. I am gonna be a village damsel she hates..", she added with a mischief in her smile.

After her bath, just as I expected, she had changed from nightie to lungi and blouse. I just couldn't wait to see how her friend would react to it.

Soon the calling bell rang. It was her. Saranya opened the door to let her in. You should have seen LiB's face seeing Saranya in lungi, blouse and thorthu tied on her wet hair. That very instant I noticed that she found Saranya's attire repulsive. She knew me; I had met her couple of times when I visited Saranya at her college. I was too not dressed as what she would call a gentle man's attire. I was in a lungi and a Tshirt.
I can see that it was like a nightmare to her seeing her friend and her fiancee dressed like 'tribal' people (her term for our attire that we wore : tribal attire).

After the usual conversations about work, family and friends, we did end up talking about the topic we( my fiancee and I ) wanted to talk.
"So.... whats this?? You dont earn enough to buy proper dress??" , asked LiB with a smile. "Why dont you were proper dress dear?"
"What is wrong with this?" asked Saranya while removing her thorthu from her hair and laying it on the chair beside her.

"How can you wear such a dress? You are among civilized people dear. What will they think?"

"Nothing .. nothing at all.. I am properly dress if you see. And I think its the best dress for climate like here or at home (in Kerala). I wont survive wearing a jeans in this hot climate."

"Why not wear a nightie? or a loose churidhar? Does Rohit insist you to wear this?? I have heard guys have such a fantasy.", Lib said giving me a smile.

"I dont wear a nightie or churidhar here. This is my home dress." Saranya lied. "And Rohit never asked me to or forced me to wear it..I like wearing it. You never tried ,right? This is really comfortable. You should try."

"No way.. never... Its repulsive. I just dont know how can you wear this at home..its, I dont know, ..its not good.. definitely Rohit is behind this.."

"Nah, I never asked her to..She loves it and I dont mind, I actually like it. She looks gorgeous in it...", I said.

Later the conversation reached a point were we asked why she hates the dress, apart from the fact that it's not the latest fashion. She said "this is prostitute's dress.. dont you see it in movies??"
Before I could answer it Saranya said "yeah, I have seen it.. I find modern dresses as that item girls wear. I find those repulsive.."

"How can you go out like this?"

"I dont go out like this..I do wear a thorthu over my bosom when do "

"That will do a lot of help!! It is not gonna help adding a rag on to this attire. I hate it."

"Have you tried it? I guess not. Well, there is your problem. you hate it only because what others might think of you wearing it. Have you ever thought what they might think of you when they see you in your tight Tshirts and mini skirts? I know you find it comfortable and okay, you grew up in a city. "

"you too..didn't you? you too grew up in a city."

"Yes, I did . But I had spent enough time in my native village to see and accept our traditional dresses. "

I feel like an idiot typing out the conversation. We were not talking in English either. So lets me explain what rest of the conversation was about.

Saranya went on to explain why she love this attire and the practical use of it. An her explanation sounded really good.

As she explained : Kerala is in the tropical region . We have really hot summers and wet monsoon seasons. Either it rains like hell or it will be hot like hell. And the attire that our ancestors wore was suiting this climate of ours. Lungi, mundu helped with the much needed airflow during the hot summers. It helped in keeping our body cool. And even when it is dripping wet, it was easy to get them dried. Blouse is an added part to it by women, of course , we cant go topless like our ancestors did. And this rag , thorthu, it wouldn't look like a rag if it is kept clean. It is only required if you are ashamed to go in front of others in a blouse. I use it when I got male visitors or when I go out. If had noticed , I am not wearing one now. because I am okay being like this infront of you and Rohit. All these western attires may make you look cool but it really dont help us out in this kind of climate. And whats the use of being a proud malayali if you despise wearing anything that is ours and ours alone to claim. Only women in Kerala used to wear Lungi Blouse like you see. Its heart breaking to see women from other states wear these in soft porn movies and give a bad reputation. These women dont even know how to wear it properly. That is the reason you people find it repulsive.

 LiB did not have much to answer after Saranya's explanation. Saranya was so pumped up that she went for evening walk with LiB in Lungi blouse and thorthu. They came back by 7.00pm with a bunch of vegetables they bought from the shops in the street.

Lib left today morning back to Banglore. I hope she left with a changed attitude towards our traditional attires. Not just Lungi Blouse, but also about all of it.
 



 

History!

Hi all,

     Sorry for the delay in blogging , I was quite busy. Had a wonderful Vishu kani in Pune. Flew back home the very day with by sweetheart ; a week's stay ; now back in Pune but tied down with huge amount of work. 

This is post is specifically to enlighten my reader about my lifestyle and my fiancee's. I wont be giving out any personal details but I'll make sure that you guys and girls( yes , girls. I was surprised to find female readers for my blog. Thank you!) get a clear picture of how my fiancee and I got into this whole stuff of traditional wears. The mails I got from you readers are mostly concerning about this issue. Female readers were really good critics (once again, thank you.) ; one even went on to accuse me as a fake, but now she is in correspondence with my fiancee.

So my dear readers, my name is Rohit Menon. I am a software engineer based in Pune. My fiancee is Saranya Ramanadhan. Our families had known each other for long time. We were friends right from the time we were kids.

I have told my story in my first post of this blog. Here's Saranya's side of story.

She is from a mixed kind of family like mine. By mixed  I mean, they are neither orthodox or modern; more like good from both sides. She lived in the city not far from my place there and her ancestral place is like 20 minutes journey from my ancestral place. Our families always invited each other for every little functions.
   She got a family temple in her tharavadu and the eldest daughter of the family is supposed to perform the poojas on special occasions. During this pooja the girl (my fiancee) is supposed to were dresses that are not stitched and are brand new (kodi vastram). Back in the days, it was performed wearing only Mundu and melmundu; but now, they do it wearing mundum neriyathum. So right from the time she was 10 years old she had been part of this ritual and had the habit of wearing mundum neriyathum. Her grand mother always insisted she wore set mundu when at tharavadu (mostly during the pooja season) and by the time she was in high school she was only allowed to wear set-mundu when at tharavadu. She was quite used to have people see her in set-mundu right from an early age. She used to wear saree perfectly when she was just 15 (now a days girls who are 25-30 doesn't know how to wear a saree).

 I had seen her many times in that attire and she was fine with it. When she moved to Banglore (where I was then working and she was studying), she continued to wear set-mundu most of the time when she was in her apartment. At some point she had started using thorthu instead of neriyathu(mel mundu). I was a frequent visitor and had stayed back couple of times to help her out with her project and when her family came to visit her. She started wearing my lungis that I had left there. She found it much practical than mundu as mundus get dirtier faster as they are white. And that is how my Saranya started wearing Lungi Blouse. She isn't shy to wear it in my presence or in presence of her female friends and didn't mind if some Kanadiga guy saw her in it. She is still shy to wear it in presence of malayali guys. (Though twice she had  been seen in accidentally).

Now we have moved to Pune and are staying together. She does wear Lungi blouse more frequently now-a-days since there aren't any malayalis staying close by.

A male attire??

Hi ,

     Sorry for not posting frequently. I was busy.

Big news this season. My girlfriend and I have finally decided to get engaged. Our families are deciding upon an auspicious date for the big day. Though our families knew about our relationship right from the beginning and were happy about it, right now I feel like we got the license to our relation.

Second big news: we moved to Pune. Had a hard time finding a nice quite place to live. Finally we got a nice little rented house in little colony. Kind of odd place to find two software engineers living. Seriously, none of our neighbors are well off. They are poor but are really good people. Plus all of them are Maharastrians;  which is an added perk giving my girlfriend and me a little more freedom coming to our choice of attire.

As I had said in one of my earlier posts , my girlfriends feels free to wear lungi blouse as long as there are no malayalis (guys) around and this was like the best place we could ever stay. Though there are malayalis in Pune, there are none in this locality. I had hit jackpot!!

She seemed to like the fact too; actually she pointed it out when we saw the place for the first time. First day there and she made my day. It was the best morning I ever had; I woke up to see her unpacking our luggage, after her bath ,wearing a lungi , blouse and a thorthu tied over her wet hair. Brilliant! I had to ask her, if she was going to make this her permanent attire in the house. You see, I had to ask.. Well she said no! but said to expect her in it more frequently. She didn't mind venturing out too in it. She was much less tensed than she was in Banglore. I love this girl. She even went shopping for vegetables in the market by the street.

I think lungi does suit for the climate here, Its is really hot. I can't wait to come home and change from my trousers to lungi and so does she. She either wears lungi blouse  or her nightie or my shirt and lungi. It seems she had quit wearing churidhars at home. Can't blame her. Anybody who has lived in this sort of climate will agree : the more airy the dress the better!

So here I got another topic for my blog : shirt and lungi. Is it a male only attire?? Girls can definitely wear it, given that they dont mind wearing a lungi. According to girlfriend , few of the girls in her hostel used to wear lungi shirt at night. But  that was about 8 years back when she was doing her 12 grade. Browsing the net, I found few photos of girls in lungi shirt, one of them even dating back to 1970s.

Lungi shirt will be the best way for a girl to get used to wearing lungi without getting ridiculed. Start wearing lungi with churidhar top or kamee; with Tshirts or with Kurtas. Its does look stylish and is definitely comfortable. With the summer sun burning down up on us, its a suggestion to girls: try out these and you'll find it much comfortable in the heat. Try it out as something you wear at home during summer. My girlfriend loves it; so you might too. It's just a matter of try it out.

An adv for Lungi featuring a girl in lungi shirt

Lungi Shirt does make her look cute

Vidya Balan in Lungi 2

Hi all,
   Previously I had posted photos of Vidya Balan posing backless wearing a Lungi. I found more photos of her in Lungi and Mundu taken during the same photoshoot. I've been drooling over the photos and it has invited the wrath of my beautiful girlfriend. :-P

Vidya has done amazing job trying to bring back Lungi in to fashion. I think girls should copy the style. It looks hot at the same time can worn practically with a little bit of adjustments. Vidya has posed wearing lungi, mundu with shirts and vest and it looks incredibly hot. Though its a men's attire, she has made it look completely gorgeous. Brilliant!

Vidya in mundu

Vidya in Lungi

Vidya in mundu

Vidya in mundu

Vidya in Lungi

Vidya in Lungi

Though not the conventional style of lungi with blouse and thorthu (or without thorthu), this isn't bad at all. Once Lungi comes back into fashion; lungi alone, it is then just one step away from the traditional Lungi Blouse style. Girls should experiment with lungi along with other dresses. They are definitely the next big desi fashion.

Here are the photos. Please feel free to share your thoughts. Please comment.

Lungi Blouse : Sri Lankan style 2

Hi,

     Last week I stumbled upon few photos of some SriLankan actresses which were taken at the sets of some movie. They were dressed in the traditional SriLankan dress that is quite similar to our own Lungi and Blouse. As in my previous post, here too I want to stress the point that those girls were not ashamed or embarrassed to wear it. But in our country, girls are embarrassed to wear something very similar. I blame the movies. B-grade movies have given a really bad image to lungi blouse attire. Sad!

 And unlike in Kerala, I think in Sri Lanka, this dress is still accepted and worn by girls and women. That is something to be appreciated. One of my Sri Lankan friend said that even though they were all sorts of modern dresses, at home they dont mind wearing this. They have a different name for this attire; it escapes me right now. She said she and all her friends still wear this dress often. I can only hope our girls will ever develop such a mentality with lungi/mundu blouse.

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actresses in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actresses in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actresses in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Actress in Lungi Blouse

Here are the photos that I found. Feel free to comment and correct me if I have got some facts wrong.

Vidya Balan in Lungi??

Vidya Balan posing in a Lungi for FHM

Hi all,

     I just happen to find a photo of Vidya Balan posing backless, covering her essentials with just a lungi. I don't expect women to wear a lungi like her ; it is impossible , impractical in real life. It looks good for a photoshoot though.

Taking her malayali lineage in to consideration, I should say she is not totally ignorant about mundu or lungi. It would have been great if she had worn it properly and preferably along with a blouse; even though we know years back women used to be topless in Kerala. Lets hope she wears it properly in future.

This photo hopefully wont damage the already bad image of our traditional dresses. New generation girls want to look hot and sexy, right? Well, it doesn't any hotter than this. Here's it, Vidya Balan in a Lungi.