In Telugu movies in those days, the hero’s sister existed in order to be violated. Seeing one Telugu movie a week, made that a very real fear in my mind and I had no desire at all to dress well or to attract attention.I remember praying God to quickly make me an old woman so that I would be safe.
The hero’s sisters traditionally wore sarees, whereas most heroines wore pants. Many of the trouser clad heroines assisted the hero in kicking the villains’ butt. And that is of course why villains existed. To have their butts kicked by the hero.
Jayasudha was one of my favorite heroines. She took no nonsense from villains or villainous mothers-in-law. She was strong and frequently hit villains with saucepans and hard hitting dialogues. Rani Lakshmi bai and Onake Obava and the like were real heroines that I admired. I really disliked the satvik, long suffering self-sacrificing heroines.
I will be lying if I say that I am not vain and that I dont like to look pretty. Of course I do. And I uphold that sarees are extremely beautiful, as maxis and skirts and all manner of women’s clothing, bags and accessories.
But have you ever tried to cycle in high heels? Or help your father fix the car wearing a maxi? Or eaten an icecream with lipstick? Or even climbed up a ladder to check water tank levels in a skirt? It just doesn’t work. I preferred cycling to school and college and avoided the buses and gropers on crowded buses. After tearing a few sarees on cycle chains and chair rollers.. it just wasn’t worth it. Some form of trousers were indicated. Indian or western.
I lost my purse on a Bombay bus and my husband yelled at me. How is it that I have never lost mine? How? Well your wallet is in your ruddy pocket and my purse dangles from my shoulder and my jewellery from my neck. And in office we had to leave our purses near our desks, when we so much as went to the washroom, or the male colleagues would ask us if we were going home “already”. After losing money at office, it became very clear. I needed pockets.
And this is why I wear trousers. Western trousers have pockets unlike the Indian Chudidars. I recommend them. Of course, the really smart girls wear pretty clothes and have guys who carry their stuff for them. That option never occured to me when I was young.
