/ 0
Changes in India do not come easily. In other words, India, as a society has an inherent tendency to fear change-which is both good and bad. That is simply because some changes are essentially good and others are harmful. Not to mention, some changes are neutral.
I remember sometime in 2002, the late Jyoti Basu, former Chief Minister of West Bengal had divulged his personal displeasure about dhotis. During an
interview with a private news channel he said, “What will happen to this country? It will surely be ruined if we do not stop wearing dhotis. How can you travel in a dhoti in a bus or in a tram? How can you work?” Whether a dhoti is a travelfriendly/work-friendly attire or not,is a debate the nation can engage upon whenever it wants to but what is of greater significance is that our Hills have been slowly but surely leading the nation in changing its mindset towards a dress code in general. Darjeeling popularized jeans in West Bengal. The Hills in this part of the country, a large part of North East included, have always dressed differently from the rest of India. Not that we dislike our traditional attire. In fact we love them just as much.
We like to dress up and dress down similar to the west. Compare to, for example, the way hill taxi drivers, young people, school teachers, professors, politicians, etc. dress with the way their counterparts in mainstream India dress. Interestingly enough and believe it or not, the rest of India is changing its dressing style.‘Let’s make India aur thoda stylish’ is the buzz in the country! Cool! Of course there is a flipside to our obsession with our dressing style.Once a very close friend (South Indian lady) said that she noticed that people here are almost always dressed to the nines but some of them actually have nothing in life other than some nice clothes. A hard truth that! I know some people who even borrow money (sapati) to buy clothes.
Our choice of food, sports and music are different. The hills are hugely inclined to western music, so much so that our regional music is ever changing (for better or worse- I heard that under the strict rule of post-modernism, no one can evaluate art today). While the rest of the country is completely immersed in cricket mania, we in the hills have chosen to pursue football, martial arts, archery,etc. Whatever it is, the country is now gradually aligning itself with our choices. Look at the way young urban Indians all over the country dress these days. Look at their hairdos. Our foods (momo,chowmein) are enjoying ever widening acceptance across the country. Most importantly, football is becoming increasingly popular in India. That is the capital point of this article.
Jiwan Rai
To read the further article please get your copy of Eastern Panorama March issue @http://www.magzter.com/IN/Hill-Publications/Eastern-Panorama/News/ or mail to contact @easternpanorama.in
