I grew up in an environment where my aunts and her friends in the neighbourhood pledged themselves for simple beauty. As such, wearing of make up and fiddling with their natural looks was considered to be a vampy act both by themselves and their male counterparts in the family.
Elders gave them their piece of mind if they happen to chop their hair even to a mere recognizable degree. Likewise, threading of eye-brows to give it a prominent shape was also considered to be a sinful act.
Those were the times, when watching a commercial movie in the tube or in the cinema halls was just a means to be transported to a world of fantasy. Something which lay men and women can or will never try to replicate in their real lives.
Again, those were the days when my leikai teenage sisters felt 'happening', daring and upto date (and comfortable) wearing male-shirts. Even in such decent attempts they tried as much as they could, to hide the buldging curves of their bodies.
Taboo was attached to acts in which sexuality and body politic was used to attract males. They were taught that it was sinful to do so. I have also hardly seen any women of marriageable age walking in the streets without an enaaphee, carefully covering her bossom.
Carrying of umbrellas, thus, gave them some kind of a veil to ward off the heat as well as unwanted stares from the jobless phakhangs sitting at the roadside pan-dukans or culverts!
For these women, romance and courtship were taken as serious business of life. Once they accepted and replied to someone's love letter, they were committed for life.
I have witnessed them many a times, especially during new year seasons, knitting sweaters and pillow covers with heart-shaped prints and lines which goes like, 'Forever yours, I love you ...', etc. for their beloved!
The leikai being small, they had to take care that no one see the sweaters or the pillow covers on the process of its making, because then, it would have shameful cosequences and her beloved could not wear/use the gifts in public! Such were the innocence, beauty and feminity of our aunt's generations.
Eshanou contributes to e-pao.net regularly . This article was webcasted on January 11th, 2007.
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