A funny description of our famous dhoti or veshti came through one of my colleagues. He had visited his son in the U.S. When his son’s group director had visited their house, he remarked, "What is this strange skirt your dad is wearing?" referring to the dhoti. A similar question mark I could see on my lady friend’s face—the one from the Fanstory community—who visited us in Seattle.

Why should a native dress look so strange? Every community has its own native dress. They have not evolved out of the blue. Taking into consideration the local materials available, the climatic conditions, and the cultural requirements, these dresses evolve over a period of time. Take the dhoti or veshti, and even the sari. The hot, humid weather conditions in my part of the country require free air circulation so that the sweat can evaporate. Whereas in North India, with colder conditions, they would always prefer pant-like clothing to keep the warmth. In hot conditions, wear a dhoti and then a pant and feel for yourself.

Dhoti indeed is a wonderful piece of cloth—as it really is—in Chennai weather. But the world has come so far, or to be more precise, the people have come so far that with exposure to different cultures and the need to go out for earning, the dress code has unsuitably changed. How do you wear a dhoti to an office? Though a few of my colleagues did wear dhoti regularly to the office. They looked different, not strange, in a cute sort of way. But how do you ride a motorbike with a dhoti? How do you keep it firmly tied for beginners? Tying a dhoti is an art in itself. You should see our politicians. So white, neatly tied, not a crumple, and never threatening to fall. My father himself, in later days, wore only dhotis. He would always have them washed by a ‘dhobi’ and ironed. And his way of tying up a dhoti was totally different from mine.

Only over a period of time did I learn to tie up a dhoti. I was never in the habit of wearing one outside of the house, even for weddings and other functions, except for my own son’s thread ceremonies and weddings. On these occasions, some relative or other would help me in tying it up properly. And for a married man, the wearing style of a dhoti was totally different. I will talk about it later.

The regular dhoti-wearing rigmarole started after retirement.

Continued in 277. Storekeeper of Desi Dhotis - Part 2