India is a tropical country so more than pants Lungi/mundu suits us.
Lungi/mundu is our traditional wear, but it loosing its relevance. But now Trousers
is seen as modern man’s dress. We can’t imagine a Corporate guy or a
techie roaming around wearing a Lungi. In some arab countries to roam
around in lungi is banned.
In a way pants is an
after effect of colonization. Globalization has given it a unique
identity. From our school days we wear pants and lungi is what we wear
at our home. Earlier students used to wear mundu(20–30 years back) as a
school uniform to government schools. But English medium is in the in
thing, so now a days children wear the European dress code. Hence from a
very tender age we knowingly or unknowingly see Mundu as something of
the past and trusers are seen with reverance.
In
Kerala we see people wear mundu yearly on 2 days on Onam and on Kerala
Piravi(Nov 1st). On ceremonies or while visiting temples also people
wear mundu, but it is changing.
Even though
India got Independence we have a fascination for the west. Our dress,
language, culture are replaced by western concepts.
Lungi
is seen now a dress of the lower middle class like street vendors,
manual laborers, coolies etc. Many youth don’t know how to wear Mudu
these days. In next couple of decades mundu/lungi might go extinct.
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