Never knew that the posts in this series will lead till this one. This one is not so funny, but if one had witnessed in real, I am sure it would have made at least 2 people laugh. So, this was long ago when I was about to meet my sister-in-law at the time of my marriage. She stays in the U.S.A and visits India once in 2 years. At the time of my marriage, it was going to be the actual meeting time with her, cause before that we met just once and that too for very short duration. And also because before that there was nothing really official between me and him, so I did not really make a sincere effort in being friendly or making an attempt to know her more.
So, she came for the marriage and got a lot of stuff like clothes and accessories for me. Most of the stuff was the daily wear like western clothes that I wear normally, but there was one Indian wear that really intrigued me. It was a lovely sari in bottle green colour made of a material which seemed like the plastic white coloured sheet that is commonly used as a packaging material. She told me that the material was in vogue then, well that did not matter much to me, as I did like the sari because of its plain colour. She told me that she got that one because her brother who happens to be my husband had told her that I am fond of plain simple saris, practically in all colours possible, and since I did not have that particular colour in the collection, so he had asked his sister to get that one. How sweet...
Sweetness of sister-in-law was also personified when she told me that she also got the blouse stitched for the same for me. But I was totally perplexed looking at this other piece of the gift. It was a blouse in the same colour, but was sleeveless (that part was fine), but it was completely shut from the back!! First glance at it made me recall all the middle aged female Parsi stereotypes from the films and television. I was really taken aback seeing the blouse, but I did not complain to her since I had mentally figured up to get a different one stitched for the beautiful sari since blouse does not matter much. But the matter did not end there, I was curious to know why she got such one stitched, guessing if it was some rage in her country. Or may be there was some tradition in the family to wear blouses like Parsis, although Jatts from Punjab are no way close to the latter :) So, after the wedding settled down after a week, I asked her the same.
Her reply to my question was something I was just not prepared for. She told me that she was told by my husband, that this is what my style was, and I liked it that way. And my reaction was "what the f.....k? Since when I started having that old-fashioned sense of dressing.I wear sleeveless, half-sleeves, mega sleeves, backless, blouses with just a strap that look more like a bra or even the full sleeved ones, but then they are transparent to make up for the full sleeves". But there was no point explaining to her since she did what she was told by my dear dear husband. I straight away went to him and asked him for an explanation. I did not ask, but shouted at him for an explanation. Shouting may seem very weird within a week of marriage, but marriage was like an unnecessary evil between us, cause we had been with each other for 5 years before that. Well that reminds me that today it has been 12 years of practically jheloing each other, OMG. Any ways so my dear dear husband's reply was: "I have overheard your conversations with your tailor. You always stress upon SLEEVELESS and COMPLETELY SHUT from back".
Once when my rage had settled down, I could then relate to what he replied. He actually never overheard my entire conversations with the darji, those instructions were always for the kurtis that I wore for my work everyday. I then laughed and explained to him that sleeveless and completely shut from back is needed for the warm and sunny climate of Mumbai where I worked. It is required all the more so that I can save my back from getting tanned everyday and then I could nicely flaunt it while wearing a sari; but for that I need to wear completely shut from back kurtis everyday to work. And if any one of you is wondering about the tanning of arms, then please note that I carry a dupatta as well. LOL
That very moment I was feeling so frustrated, but felt real love for him from inside afterwards. (The phenomenon which is prevalent till today).That was so sweet of him to gift me something that he thought was of my preference, but half-overhearing made all the difference. I also wondered if at all he did not hear things properly, but at least he has seen me, his wife a lot. But then, which husband in this World looks at his wife??
So, she came for the marriage and got a lot of stuff like clothes and accessories for me. Most of the stuff was the daily wear like western clothes that I wear normally, but there was one Indian wear that really intrigued me. It was a lovely sari in bottle green colour made of a material which seemed like the plastic white coloured sheet that is commonly used as a packaging material. She told me that the material was in vogue then, well that did not matter much to me, as I did like the sari because of its plain colour. She told me that she got that one because her brother who happens to be my husband had told her that I am fond of plain simple saris, practically in all colours possible, and since I did not have that particular colour in the collection, so he had asked his sister to get that one. How sweet...
Sweetness of sister-in-law was also personified when she told me that she also got the blouse stitched for the same for me. But I was totally perplexed looking at this other piece of the gift. It was a blouse in the same colour, but was sleeveless (that part was fine), but it was completely shut from the back!! First glance at it made me recall all the middle aged female Parsi stereotypes from the films and television. I was really taken aback seeing the blouse, but I did not complain to her since I had mentally figured up to get a different one stitched for the beautiful sari since blouse does not matter much. But the matter did not end there, I was curious to know why she got such one stitched, guessing if it was some rage in her country. Or may be there was some tradition in the family to wear blouses like Parsis, although Jatts from Punjab are no way close to the latter :) So, after the wedding settled down after a week, I asked her the same.
Her reply to my question was something I was just not prepared for. She told me that she was told by my husband, that this is what my style was, and I liked it that way. And my reaction was "what the f.....k? Since when I started having that old-fashioned sense of dressing.I wear sleeveless, half-sleeves, mega sleeves, backless, blouses with just a strap that look more like a bra or even the full sleeved ones, but then they are transparent to make up for the full sleeves". But there was no point explaining to her since she did what she was told by my dear dear husband. I straight away went to him and asked him for an explanation. I did not ask, but shouted at him for an explanation. Shouting may seem very weird within a week of marriage, but marriage was like an unnecessary evil between us, cause we had been with each other for 5 years before that. Well that reminds me that today it has been 12 years of practically jheloing each other, OMG. Any ways so my dear dear husband's reply was: "I have overheard your conversations with your tailor. You always stress upon SLEEVELESS and COMPLETELY SHUT from back".
Once when my rage had settled down, I could then relate to what he replied. He actually never overheard my entire conversations with the darji, those instructions were always for the kurtis that I wore for my work everyday. I then laughed and explained to him that sleeveless and completely shut from back is needed for the warm and sunny climate of Mumbai where I worked. It is required all the more so that I can save my back from getting tanned everyday and then I could nicely flaunt it while wearing a sari; but for that I need to wear completely shut from back kurtis everyday to work. And if any one of you is wondering about the tanning of arms, then please note that I carry a dupatta as well. LOL
