Tuesday 4 April 2017

C is for clothes #AtoZChallenge

Clothes:
Do we wear them?
Or
do they
carry us?

Smart
Scruffy
Designer
High street
Vintage
When did we stitch ourselves to these labels?
And why?

Clothes are the weft and warp of human history.
I agree.
They're the only surviving fibers of our fabric
as a people on this planet.

BUT.

Does burning a bra truly liberate you?
Can a longer hem line make you a saint?
Is it the veil's job to cover the beauty of the wearer
or should it focus on drowning the beholder's lust?

Turbans and hijabs, chadors and scarves.
Started their journeys to help humans cope with war, heat and atrocities.
Who turned them into weapons of mass recognition?
Did we?

"I love clothes and colours and dressing up." I confessed one day to my yoga teacher.
"Is that wrong?"

"Only if you attach yourself to them." She answered.

So, I continue my love affair with colours and clothes and colourful clothes,
Reminding myself every now and then that they are not me.
I let them hang free over the body that houses the heart that holds the key to the real me.

Look beyond the clothes.
Clouds that cover the sky are not the sky and even the sky is an illusion.

******
How can I leave you without sharing pictures?
Feast your eyes on the colours of Kutchh:
The outfits these women wear are stitched by them. 


Style and sass of a child
Shy smiles of teenagers at Hudco village.
Mr. Maheshwari, a weaver we met, modelling traditional clothes worn by the men of his family.
 Dancers dance wrapped up in sarees at Modhera Temple.
Look closely...
Can you see the tender threads the weaver weaves--
To create a piece?

You say: life patterns you and me
like a motif.

I disagree.

Sit with this thought for a bit today:

Who's the weaver of your fabric?

Hope 'D' delivers on time.

Dance and  be merry 
till we meet again:)

2 comments:

  1. GORJUS pictures!
    And I love your yoga teacher's response.
    I enjoyed this, thank you. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Jz. I'm blessed to have a very wise yoga teacher:)

      Delete

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