Touch Of A Skirt
There is something special about the touch of a skirt worn in South-India, such as this one, being part of a so called ‘half saree’. The cloth is both rugged, somewhat unrefined and yet velvety. And it has a shine that suspects lines of silk in the weft. The colors are often stunningly bright, contrasting - especially in the villages where many a girl has to work outside in the sun on the fields for many hours - with the tanned skin of the wearer. The strong colors of the skirt, sometimes reinforced by a scarf or shawl in a stark contrasting hue, seemingly suggests a desire in the girl to be looked at, observed or even admired. Although I won’t deny that many a girl would love nothing more than an admiring gaze from a trusted relative or even a distant friend, most of the village girls wearing these dresses, sometimes only at festive occasions, do not dress themselves like this to be stared at, but simply because it is part of South-Indian village culture, where poverty is visible in many a shape, but not when it comes to dressing up for an occasion, such as a marriage, a birthday or one of the many village festivals.
I find it incredibly satisfying when I see a girl dressed in such a ‘rough’ skirt, that lets her hand rest calmly, almost unknowingly graceful, on her knee, decently covered with the dress that easily reaches her ankles and further down. When such as hand is adorned with a gold colored and bright blue bangle, my day has then started just fine.
And I need no more.
