The Solid Colour Around the Waistline
When I wore a double mundu or the dhoti for the first time, I believed that my life was hanging by a thread. Since it was a folded piece of cloth (thus the name double mundu), I had my instincts in the right path but never got a chance to stay an entire day without readjusting the clothing. The 10 year old kid was found struggling in the temple premises to find his efficiency in wearing a dhoti as a pro. But, they said; failure is the stepping stone to success. The more I adjusted to the white cloth around my waist, the more confident I grew; at least without using a belt to make it tight.
Mundu is known for its elegancy. Anyone can wear it but make sure that you won’t be humiliated in front of a huge crowd when it perishes; destroying all the elegant factors you held for a while. My childhood had this nightmare and the small things that made me afraid got its new entrant in the form of a cloth. Apart from attending every family functions, mundu was introduced to the first time in schools when we had special programs for Onam celebrations and the swan song farewell day. Back then, when we belonged to the lower classes, all eyes went in awe as the seniors walked majestically on the ramp for the first time, waving their white feather-like cloth and holding the other end with ease. That was my first tryst with how to wear it in a royal way (and how to keep it simple).
The entire community had fallen for mundu ages ago and regardless of the fashion techniques that has changed the modern world, mundu is still the same but evolved in its colour. People often find it a bit distressing for both the former and lungi which owns a slight difference; lungi appears in different patterns. You have to wear it on every other occasions; on wedding ceremonies, religious partakes, and for any official functions with your friends and family. Out of all, the bromance between kurtas and mundu is the new talk of the town. They are never separated and I wish every human being should stay connected to each other like the former do.
The saying of “maturity hit us like a truck” can be proven wrong; maturity improves when you are specialised in the art of wearing a mundu. Especially, when you have passed the age of adolescence and the white cloth around your waist gives you a manly look on the bright side. As I said before, anyone can wear it. It doesn’t have any discriminatory approach towards genders, castes or literally anything that have no point in discussing. After all, it is normal to wear it and every human being can try it, literally every human being.