Bejewelled
My fascination with Indian culture is known to most of my friends. From Bollywood movies, the beautiful and colourful outfits, the mysticism of the diverse culture and religions to the fiery cuisine. Every aspect of philosophy for life and existence has a strange pull in my imagination and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. This weekend I added another chapter to my never ending quest of discovery by acquiring my very own “princess outfit” to the list. A gorgeous Shalwar Kameez covered with embroidery and crystals in black, red and gold.
On Saturday morning we drove to Southhall where the plenitude of Asian shops offered a variety to satisfy even the most difficult customer. After a tasty curry lunch, a stroll down the Broadway and a couple unsuccessful attempts to find the right outfit we finally found a store filled with not one but several options. I felt like a kid in a candy shop; colours, crystals and gold threat made a dazzling display of fairytale images. The urge to be transformed to mythical creature and live out a fantasy came to a standstill momentarily during the trying of the chosen outfits. The top was easy enough to put one and I managed to manoeuvre myself inside the enormous trousers, which I double tied in fear of having them come off... The bizarre thing was the embroidered and jewelled covered material inside the trousers. It was sewn on and was not coming off after a short deliberation that included scratching my head trying to figure out what on earth was I supposed to do with that, I decided that Asian people must like to have even their nether regions covered in jewels and left it at that.
The outfit looked amazing it just needed to be taken in a little bit to fit me better. There was an Indian lady trying on another rather gorgeous outfit in the fitting rooms and my partner inquired about sleeves. “Does the Shalwar Kammez normally come with sleeves?” I just looked at him bewildered...
-“Yes there should be some inside the trousers.” The lady next to me answered.
-“Oh, that is what that material is for... It looked odd to have that material in the trousers, it makes sense now.” I laughed and my partner laughed. The whole thing could have come out of an episode of the Goodness Gracious me. I kept laughing while trying out the other outfits, I couldn’t believe how easy it is to fall into cultural black holes and I am thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t attempt to try on a sari...
On Saturday morning we drove to Southhall where the plenitude of Asian shops offered a variety to satisfy even the most difficult customer. After a tasty curry lunch, a stroll down the Broadway and a couple unsuccessful attempts to find the right outfit we finally found a store filled with not one but several options. I felt like a kid in a candy shop; colours, crystals and gold threat made a dazzling display of fairytale images. The urge to be transformed to mythical creature and live out a fantasy came to a standstill momentarily during the trying of the chosen outfits. The top was easy enough to put one and I managed to manoeuvre myself inside the enormous trousers, which I double tied in fear of having them come off... The bizarre thing was the embroidered and jewelled covered material inside the trousers. It was sewn on and was not coming off after a short deliberation that included scratching my head trying to figure out what on earth was I supposed to do with that, I decided that Asian people must like to have even their nether regions covered in jewels and left it at that.
The outfit looked amazing it just needed to be taken in a little bit to fit me better. There was an Indian lady trying on another rather gorgeous outfit in the fitting rooms and my partner inquired about sleeves. “Does the Shalwar Kammez normally come with sleeves?” I just looked at him bewildered...
-“Yes there should be some inside the trousers.” The lady next to me answered.
-“Oh, that is what that material is for... It looked odd to have that material in the trousers, it makes sense now.” I laughed and my partner laughed. The whole thing could have come out of an episode of the Goodness Gracious me. I kept laughing while trying out the other outfits, I couldn’t believe how easy it is to fall into cultural black holes and I am thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t attempt to try on a sari...
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