25 May, 2007

Orthodox culture demands a visible belly

That’s the only conclusion I can draw from this news report:

A man told a judge in the Calcutta High Court that he and his family did not want his wife, whom he had driven out of home, to wear a salwar kameez.

The husband, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, drew the attention of Justice Partha Sakha Dutta to the red salwar kameez his wife Rupali was wearing during the court proceeding, a dress worn by millions of Indian women.

“We are an orthodox family. We cannot accept such dresses, she should wear a sari,” the husband told an astonished Justice Dutta.

What I find sad is that the judge “directed Dibyendu to take his wife and child home and asked him not to create problems over such trivial issues.” I presume she was constrained by a lack of economic independence, for why would any sensible woman want to live with a man like that?

Also, how could “millions of Indian women” have worn “the red salwar kameez his wife Rupali was wearing”? Couldn’t they have worn their own salwar kameezes?

(You can read my other posts mentioning salwars here and here. I’m a huge fan. Cows should wear salwars.)