The India Diaries - Part 9: An Indian resturant in India and how to dress like an Indian woman without even trying

Okay, so I just had dinner here in Pune at the Resturant Hydrabad. The food was absolutely awesome, the service wonderfully attentive, but thats been my experience since I've arrived. What struck me was that we were eating in a themed resturant. Hydrabad is a city in the east, and from what I could tell from the incredibly opulant and Hollywood-like decor of the resturant, it is a city renowed for very good lamb marsalas, tiny mirrors everywhere, massive coloured glass chandeliers, and tassels, lots of tassels, even on the menus. So this was an Indian themed resturant, in India. Huh.

One thing that has struck me, particularly in Pune, is the variation in the way the women dress. Pune (pronounced Poona) is a very modern (by Indian standards), medium-sized city (around 4 million people) with an awful lot of universities and therefore an awful lot of students. For the most part and with only a few exceptions, the men wear western-style trousers or jeans, and untucked buttoned shirts or t-shirts. The women vary far more drastically. There seem to be three distinct styles and classes that go with them.

About half the women are in sarees and within this group, there are two sub-groups: Those that drape their saree in the traditional Majherasta style that kinda makes the skirt of the saree look a bit like a very long diaper are usually the peasants and construction workers (yes, there are an awful lot of woman working on road crews). Not terribly graceful, but a bit more practical. The other group wears saree in the style of southern India with the skirt pleated and left long. It is a very graceful way to drape saree and it seems to be the middle and upper class more traditional/conservative women who dress this way.

Then there are the women who wear chorta. Chorta is a set made up of loose trousers, a long tunic slit up the sides, and a scarf or stole. Very graceful, and also very comfortable. The women who wear chorta seem to be the professionals. Doctors, accountants and politicians all wear chorta. I bought one last week and have worn it out a few times. After a bit of confusion over seeing a western woman in traditional dress, I find I get very good service and am respected and generally treated well.

Then there are the young women, mostly students, who wear typical wester-style clothes. Jeans, t-shirts, sneakers, but nothing very low-cut and nothing shorter than mid-calf.

In some parts of the city, I felt very conspicuous in my whiteness and jeans and t-shirt. I'm starting to get used to the constant stares and groups of teenagers asking to have their photo taken with me but it does feel a little strange. I do like that my culture is as fascinating to them as theirs is to me. I felt like if I could dress like they do, I would blend in a little. So I am sitting in an internet cafe right now in the very young and trendy Koregan Park district wearing chorta, and feeling a bit out of place amongst all the girls in jeans and t-shirts. Contrast and contradictions, that's what I will take away from this place most clearly.