I stand out here in many ways; white, I have seen maybe 4 white
people in the past month; tall, at 6 foot I am a full head taller than
most Indians; overweight, most Indians, even the well fed ones, are
thin. Most of all, however, I stand out because of the way I dress. It
is almost December and the daytime temperatures still hover in the 90's
plus humidity, night time drops down to a frigid 75. I say frigid
because the night doorman at my hotel wears a hoodie with the hood up
and a lumberjack jacket over top done up, so it must be cold. With
temperatures like this, if I am not at work, I am wearing shorts.
Admittedly, I will wear shorts even when it gets into the 50's in NA but
in this part of India, I do not believe that 50 has ever been seen.
Maybe when India was still an island in the southern hemisphere.
So for me, comfortable means shorts and a golf shirt, running shoes with white socks and I can walk for days before I see anyone similarly dressed. I have seen a similar phenomenon when visiting Mexico and the Caribbean, most men wear long pants. Maybe I forgot to grow up because I see children wearing shorts but no adults. Even when I wear pants, I still stand out because I wear khakis or dockers and the men here wear dark slacks or jeans. For a shirt they wear collared full button poly-cotton dress style shirt no matter the day, the temperature or the job they are doing, I have seen mechanics underneath cars changing oil in dress slacks and dress shirt. Most men wear sandals without socks but I have seen closed shoes in the office environment and steel toes in factories.
Most
women still wear the Sari or a conservative cut knee length dress with
contrasting legging, no low cut necklines, no mini skirts or shorts and
no bare legs. On weekends younger girls will wear jeans and blouses. One
interesting fact, ALL women have long hair and ALL men have short hair
and no one wears hats despite the sunny cloudless skies.
Many travelogues will tell you to bring less clothes and buy here because clothing is cheap here and while that is true, it does not take into account selection and size. Selection is limited to the styles mentioned above. Fortunately, the sari only comes in one size so it just needs to be arranged properly but you still need a blouse with it. For men, I expect Big And Tall to be nearly impossible to find since most men here are short and small. Shoes are difficult to find above size 12 for men and although I am a 12, I still cannot find a shoe to fit me. I expect there is a limit on the women's side as well. I forgot to bring a tie and it took a while to find one, even large department stores do not carry them. A hat was equally hard to find.
Is there meat in that?
So for me, comfortable means shorts and a golf shirt, running shoes with white socks and I can walk for days before I see anyone similarly dressed. I have seen a similar phenomenon when visiting Mexico and the Caribbean, most men wear long pants. Maybe I forgot to grow up because I see children wearing shorts but no adults. Even when I wear pants, I still stand out because I wear khakis or dockers and the men here wear dark slacks or jeans. For a shirt they wear collared full button poly-cotton dress style shirt no matter the day, the temperature or the job they are doing, I have seen mechanics underneath cars changing oil in dress slacks and dress shirt. Most men wear sandals without socks but I have seen closed shoes in the office environment and steel toes in factories.
Most
women still wear the Sari or a conservative cut knee length dress with
contrasting legging, no low cut necklines, no mini skirts or shorts and
no bare legs. On weekends younger girls will wear jeans and blouses. One
interesting fact, ALL women have long hair and ALL men have short hair
and no one wears hats despite the sunny cloudless skies.Many travelogues will tell you to bring less clothes and buy here because clothing is cheap here and while that is true, it does not take into account selection and size. Selection is limited to the styles mentioned above. Fortunately, the sari only comes in one size so it just needs to be arranged properly but you still need a blouse with it. For men, I expect Big And Tall to be nearly impossible to find since most men here are short and small. Shoes are difficult to find above size 12 for men and although I am a 12, I still cannot find a shoe to fit me. I expect there is a limit on the women's side as well. I forgot to bring a tie and it took a while to find one, even large department stores do not carry them. A hat was equally hard to find.
Is there meat in that?
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