Miniskirts... and Proper Saris!
BY: RADHIKA DEVI DASI
Jul 08, 2010 — AUSTRALIA (SUN) — I liked Madhavananda das's article, "Don't Allow this Miniskirt or Minishirt". I have been meaning to write a similar article for a while. I have noticed at our Sunday Feasts that the trend for "fringies" and surfy teenagers who come for the Sunday Feast program (well - they come for the feast... I don't often see them in the temple for any of the program) is to wear their gopi skirts as low as they possibly can... ala "hipster jean" style. For those not familiar with this style, it's where your pants are so low your underwear hangs out the top. What makes this worse is that the girls don't HAVE underwear to stick out the top - and we get to see the top inch or more of their bottom crevasses. And it's not just in the hot summer - I saw the same this past Sunday, and it's the middle of winter here!
Another fashion trend I have been seeing in many different countries is the Gujarati Sari drape. It's a nice drape, with the sari coming over the right shoulder from the back and pallu worn over chest - thereby showing off the intricate work most pallus have. As nice as this drape is, there is a direct instruction from Srila Prabhupada NOT to wear this drape. (Please refer to the article, "Why I wear a Sari")
Now, whilst we can't "police" how anyone in the general congregation chooses to wear their sari (after all - they may be from Gujarat and this is their culturally inherited style) it certainly should NOT be worn by pujaris. Our leaders and teachers should be making this instruction known - and this is where I become particularly confused, because the Girls Gurukula in Mayapur - which prides itself on training our young ladies to become outstanding pujaris - have ALL their girls wear this style - only BACKWARDS!
Recently whilst I was in Mayapur, I noticed all the Gurukula girls were wearing this BACKWARD version of the Gujarati drape. (By backward I mean that the drape comes from the back over the LEFT shoulder.... and pallu worn on the chest.) Now, coming from an Indian background - my grandmother always told me that if a woman wears her sari backward on the 'wrong' shoulder' it means she is on her monthly menstrual period and it's a "signal" for others not to touch her... but surely not ALL these girls could be having their period - and some were probably too young for that anyhow. So curiosity got the better of me and I asked one of them why they dressed this way.
"Because a pujari must always keep their left shoulder covered" came the reply.
Well - the style Srila Prabhupada instructed his disciples to wear (called Nivvi style or sometimes Contemporary style) DOES cover the left shoulder. There's no need to adjust it. So why does the girls Gurukula have all their girls wearing the incorrect style and incorrectly, at that?
Personally, I think the Bengali drape is the best of all. It's our traditional Gaudiya Vaisnava Bengali style. You can see it in photos of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur's family, etc. It covers the body very modestly - covers the chest TWICE... as Vaisnavis are supposed to do - is cooler in summer, and warmer in winter. I'm not sure why Srila Prabhupada recommended us the Nivvi style in it's place - though Rombhoru devi dasi states in her article (linked above) that it's because it is the Brahmin style. But anyhow - it's the style he gave us, so we should stick with it.
