My love for sarees is immense and frankly speaking, I never leave a chance to drape one if I find the occasion suitable. The ethnicity that makes us beautiful is somewhere criticised in the corners of our country, among the people, between the businesses. What the eyes see today is very different, the lifestyle bloggers, the fashion magazines have made sarees an infamous, so called “Not standard” clothing in today’s time.
I am sorry if I sound like a 90s typical Bollywood’s version of script but anyways that’s the real me. I am still figuring out the abundance of Indian ethnics losing their identities in our minds. Globalisation was considered to be the amalgamation of different cultures that will bring inclusivity to the table but what we see today is something which these upper economies of the world are telling us. Our definition of modernisation is their lifestyle, their food, their clothes and their accent.
I feel I should not blame much on westernisation rather I should stick to the sarees that will bring more justice to the title of the blog. So yes! Being a journalism student and a feminist, the news which talks about plight over females will come to my years anyhow. So, an article in Hindustan times said ‘A woman was denied entry to a discotheque in nearby Ghaziabad as she was wearing saree. The headline in itself is news. Inside India people are denied entry in saree.
The high-ranking clubs such as C8 Night clubs, the blue bar, Keya, Club BW, Imperfecto, Kitty-SU and many more which allow free entry for females but don’t allow entries of females in sarees. I won’t leave you with just my opinion, rather I will also let you know the reason why these club owners keep such a dress code. They say “such rules are only meant to suit the ambiance of the place and attract youngsters”. Now let me pull the meaning out of the previous line, that means Saree does not fit into the ambiance of a club, and saree can not pull youngsters, mainly boys. In simple lines women in saree can not pull boys, so women have to wear short skinny dresses to pull boys and ultimately to fit in the ambiance of clubbing in India.
At night clubs there is a strict dress code “No Indian wear”, “No sneakers and no chappals” “Only smart casuals”. So these people have defined saree is not the smart casual, saree doesn’t deserve that elite position in the society so called in the language of fashion that saree is old fashioned concept now.
If you search a simple question “what to wear to any party from cocktail attire to casual? You will get to see a long list of dresses, a few of them described as “A tea or floor length gown suits the upscale events”, but even if you scroll down to the hundredth option in the list you will not find saree in it. Clothes have always been an integral part of human identity, but according to me blindly following, not questioning the rules which are suppressing us culturally is wrong.
I respect the individual choices of dressing, but be aware, are you influenced by a classic example of elitism set by the media which is ultimately the propaganda of western society to gain cultural, economic, and political autonomy? The time is to get literate to what we are forced to do. If clubbing is a concept that objectifies women in short and hip dresses to attract boys, then I am sad to say that we youngsters are letting them market freely such a concept in our own country.
A girl is called fancy when she wears the marketed product of Zara but a girl will be a typical Indian if she wears a beautiful handloom or Dhakai sari of Bangladesh and Kolkata. It’s in our mind what makes us modern. Accepting the foreign culture is good but diminishing our own culture is something which shall be corrected. In our country it’s the problem with our mindset that to look handsome or beautiful or to pull the eyes, the Indian ethnic fails.
I will leave you with your thoughts to ponder upon it. Ultimately, it’s an Individual’s choice, but at the cost of modernisation are you ruining your culture or you are contributing in exploring it and letting it survive amongst the dominating economies.
I will always love to see you in sarees at the clubs with free entries and to the boys of the nation I say if these marketing people are indirectly pointing towards you that you do not give attention to the females in the sarees then I say that our freedom of wearing saree at the club is stuck because of your choices. Without hurting your sentiments, I request you not to prejudice your concept. Rather we depend on modernisation, let modernisation depend on us.