This afternoon I went shopping for traditional Indian clothing with Bindu, Divya, and Ancy. I’m not sure who was more excited, me or the girls.

To a westerner, we would not be easily able to tell the difference between a set of Kurta pajamas and a Salwar. Kurta’s are shirts of varying lengths which are then worn with jeans or pajama type pants. The pajama pants have two leg designs, wide and slim. The tighter ones are worn bunched up at the ankles, similar to how leg warmers were worn in the 80’s. A Salwar is a fancy pant suit, with a flowing top that comes in a variety of sizes and a set of matching pants. Salwars also come with a matching scarf, so you get the complete outfit for one price. Depending on the fabric (cotton, polyester, silk, etc.), the price ranges from approx 10$ USD to approximately 100$ USD. They are often ornately decorated with bells, sequins, embroidery, or beads.

Many of the popular traditional clothing colours in India are very bright. We have unanimously decided that I look horrid in pink and many of the brighter yellows, but I am surprised that I don’t look too hideous in the reds and purples. These are normally colours I wouldn’t even bother to try on at home, but at the urging of the girls, they made their way into the trial rooms at the Shoppers stop and were drapped over me at the Mysore Silk saree shop. Drew will be thrilled that I am not bringing home clothes in my traditional navy blue and brown, since he’s been trying to get me to expand the colours in my wardrobe for quite some time.

After picking out a Salwar – the girls decided, not me – we trotted off to the costume jewelry counter to accessorize the outfit. It took a bit of time to warm up to the experience, as I rarely wear earings, bangles, etc. and when I do I tend to stick to small, plain styles. The girls enthusiasm is contagious though, and soon I am trying on many different styles of necklaces and poking through earings to match.

As I mentioned before, much of the traditional Indian daily wear jewelry is very large compared to what we would wear in North America. It often contains beading, large chunky pieces of coloured glass or semi-precious stones, and the earings are about 10x the size of something you’d get at your local Zellers or Walmart. This isn’t to say it is not pretty, it’s just different and takes some time for me to get used to.

After the trip to the Shopper’s stop – a department store similar to Sears – we visited Mysore Silks to look at the sarees. The patterns are amazing and picking out a saree is not an easy decision. When in the saree shop, we take off our shoes and sit on a cushion similar to a futon mattress while the sales clerk picks out sarees that will fit the price range and will not be too heavy or bulky to wear. In order to determine which ones look nicest, she first unfolds the material in order for us to view the patterns. Then, the saree is draped over me, so that we get a good idea of what it will look like on. The sales clerk promises she will give me instruction papers so that I know how to properly wear it. After picking out two sarees for myself – a high saree for special occasions in what Bindu tells me is a wedding colour (Reds and Greens are often worn at traditional Indian weddings) and a daily wear saree in orange with a white patterned section, we toddle off out of the store. I will return to pick up the sarees on Tuesday, as the shop needs a few days to put netting over the back of the material to make sure that the material isn’t pulled or damage with use. Before I can wear it, I need to get a blouse. For the special occasion saree, we are given a small cutting from the fabric to match to a ready made blouse. The daily wear saree comes with a small section of fabric which is cut away and will eventually become the blouse. We need to find a tailor to stitch a proper blouse before I can wear it.

Buying a saree is definitely hard work!

We’ve decided that I will come to work in my new Salwar on Monday in order to surprise the rest of the group at work. Also, on Monday we will set the date for everyone to wear traditional Indian dress. Depending on when the blouse will be ready for my saree, it may be as soon as Wednesday. Everyone has suggested I tuck my saree a little higher than usual to make sure I don’t trip. Traditionally, it is worn to cover the shoes and all of the girls have at least one story of tripping over the skirt and taking a tumble.

Later in the evening, Bindu, Divya and I went to dinner at a local restaurant on Commercial Street. Since there were few descriptions of the meals, Bindu ordered a number of traditional vegetarian dishes from North India on my behalf and I must say I enjoyed all of them. The rice mixed with raisins and apples and spiced delicately with curry was especially good.

After dinner, we did some window shopping, then headed to Divya’s house where I met her family. She lives in a blended household, with her sister, 2 brothers, their spouses and 3 children, and her parents. Imagine having 11 to 12 people living under one roof! Her family is large, friendly and welcoming. I have been invited to lunch at their home later in the week and am looking forward to it. After leaving Divya’s, we went to Bindu’s home, where I met her family. Bindu lives with her parents and sister – a much smaller household – and her family has also invited me to lunch with them next week. It appears I have a very busy social calendar next week!

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