THE NAQABS OF PUNE- TO VEIL OR NOT TO VEIL- THE JOURNEY

Oooo lal duppete wali tera naam toh bataaa…..nopes I am not suddenly nostalgic about Chunkey Pandey :p but recently I got called out in a Marathi version of this! “Ooo lal odhniwali madam tumche paise paddle” alas(or Thank God) it was no Chunkey Pandey who was singing after me but just a do gooder calling me out to pick up my change.

 It was then that I realized that I have become a Puneri  in yet another aspect- using  the ubiquitous, the omnipresent, the all pervasive, the one and only, the Puneri hijaab, the naqabs of the Peshwains, (drumrolls please)- the scarf/dupatta/odhni.  This piece of cloth covers the entire face of the Puneri lady only leaving out the eyes. And no you can’t just tie it anyway you want, there is a specific style of tying it up which you can master only after undergoing a sunstroke in mid May. Be it in the buses, the parks, the roads, or the other ubiquitous Pune factor the two wheelers, it is naqab ladies everywhere. There is even the specific manner in which you just untie one knot to drink your coffee on the go, without the whole thing coming off, and you tie it right back. It seems like they all have superpowers and a superhero identity they are trying to hide behind the veil. (Batman will easily blend in here).

When I shifted to Pune about 1.5 years back, I was still the pure Mumbaikar looking down upon this neighboring city and its many typical norms. With that attitude I scoffed at all the lady Alqaedas as I called them then. But a month of marital bliss later stared the routine entailing the arduous PMT bus journeys (anyone who has experienced one would agree ‘arduous’ is too small a word for it, but more on that later); and I realized for some odd reason all eyes were on me! For a fleeting moment I was flattered off course, wow I must be really pretty looking and all but then I started realizing it was not just the male eyes but even the eye windows popping out of the naqabs. Two days later (ya I am slow that way) realization further dawned upon me that I was the only lady in the whole bus whose face could be seen. The Mumbaikar inside refused to give up though, big deal so what they all cover up, I won’t adhere to any such sociocultural norm. 

I did start observing the naqabs though. There is so much variation to it, the bandanis, the crepes, the uber cool colors, the vibrant ones, the florals, it was almost like making a fashion statement with the humble odhni. The eye window also gets detailed special attention I guess as that is the only visible part, I observed varied styles of applying liner and kajal and eyeshadows which  I had never seen in Mumbai. Then there were the variations as to what to do with the extra cloth hanging in front, it was draped in oh so many different ways. The scarves on FC road called out to me; come on see we are so silky and we are pink and turquoise come on just get wrapped in us. But the Mumbaikar refused to give up!

 It was almost a month after travelling in the hot May that I realized (slow again) that my once I assume pretty face was full of zits and burnt, I wasn’t just tanned I felt burnt! The bloody SPF factor of my sunscreen didn’t live upto its claim. My hair was falling out and visibly thinner.  The change was tough, the Mumbaikar inside didn’t go without a fight, but the mirror reflection won at the end and I picked up (drumrolls please) ‘the naqab’. Then came the struggle of tying it and Mr. Betterhalf who had started the Mumbaikar to Punekar journey before me actually knew how to tie it. (saw his cousin do it he says not that I believe him).

 Once the draping was mastered came the next step, how does one breath through this horrid thing! I felt as suffocated as I would in a room full of smoke. I even contemplated on cutting out two holes for the nostrils!  But Mr. Smarty Pants had a logical reasoning as always saying if that is what the weather and pollution has done to your face imagine what it would do to your lungs, you must have the cloth filter. Well, then came the endurance phases- I had to built up the naqaab time slowly from umm ten seconds to a minute then five and so on. 

Another issue I had earlier on was, how do you express yourself with 95% of your face covered! When you meet someone you know, or just want to give that casual friendly smile to a regular co traveler, how do you do that. I also thought this would hamper any interpersonal bonds or simple recognitions which could be formed. But the naqab has its own ways. I learnt like the others to convey myself only using my eyes, a head nod of recognition, the casual friendly smile reaching the other through your eyes, and despite the naqabs I made great friends on my bus rides (maybe my Jassi specs helped in identification). 

 I never realized when I mastered the art of breathing through the naqab, tying it to perfection, looking through and forming bonds through the narrow eye window. I felt protected then physically and mentally, no more stares, no more sun burns. The humble piece of cloth helped me to blend in, to feel protected like all naqabs do, some of cloth some of character. 

©Sneha Karle , July 2015

Dodaddlydo

Fathers’ day went by recently (ya I know I am kinda late have been up to some new and weird stuff as always and Pune rains are so soporific) so FD happened and off course with it happened the onslaught of wishes on Watsapp, Fb, Instagram , Twitter and our other SN buddies. (SN- Social networking- I have been told by a teen in my complex to use short forms like this- the exact words been “Aunty (aaarrrgghhh) short forms will make you sound cool”). Ooohh I just used brackets within my brackets, guess the good old drafting patents and agreements habit just won’t go. Straying eons away from the point to be made is another remnant habit from my drafting days, hope you guys are still reading.


So the onslaught ya, there are three kinds of people vis-à-vis these ‘days’, the PDA (‘Public Display of Affection’ for the uninitiated amongst you) ones who take to SNs for declaring their paternal/maternal/romantic/feline/equine/canine/otherals/otherines love, the ‘Lets Keep It Personal’ (LKIP) types who pick up the phone and call up to wish, the ‘Naysayers’ the kind who don’t believe in such days. There may be other intermediary types as well. Well the more the types the better that’s what keeps our society interesting! Anthropology would get so boring if we all start thinking the same way or having the same opinions.  What my issue is, is that we are not satisfied just belonging to these types, we have these eternal and unquenchable need to judge and criticize the people from other types. This is not just restricted to the topic at hand regarding celebrating days but for every topic under the sun, be it national, international issues, society issues, shoe issues, gutter issues, dog issues, potty issues, every personal choice; we as mankind just don’t get the concept of ‘Agreeing To Disagree’.


As far as celebrating days is concerned, the SN followers would say we like PDA what is wrong with it? It’s the age of SN so if we weren’t meant to voice our emotions on it why was it even created. The LKIP kinds on the other end would mock at this lot and say such things should be personal and if you wanna wish your special ones do it personally or over the phone why do you need to display your emotions on a public forum. The naysayers would be like why the heck are such days celebrated! We should not have days to declare our love and each day should be celebrated, such defined days are nothing but a marketing gimmick and its just herd mentality to wish on such days. Now I am not sitting on the judge’s chair here to analyze which of these groups is right or wrong. These are opinions, individual opinions which as a human being everyone has a right to have. It’s a different thing to voice your opinion even have a healthy debate about contrary views.  But noooo aren’t we a flawed lot we just can’t have our opinion and shut up there is this incessant need to shove our opinions in others faces and down their throats, God forbid if they don’t agree with us we just end up alienating them. Again pppssstt ever heard of AGREEING TO DISAGREE!


My opinion (off course I would give one and it is the most correct opinion and you have to have to agree or with me or wild bats will chew off your nose!), vis a vis celebrating such days is yes one should shower love on ones parents, mates, partners, teachers, cats, dogs, bats…..on a daily basis, its obviously not right to beat the shit out of your wife daily and send her roses on valentine’s day, or been the nagging wife taunting your husband daily and putting up a loveydovey post on the anniversary, or forgetting your parents even exist and sending ecards on fathers and mothers day. However that doesn’t mean celebrating such days is wrong in itself. I see such days as reasons for reconnecting, for expressing yourself, for well celebrating. It would surely irritate the hell out of my parents if I call them up every day and repeat how grateful I am to them and all….I mean c’mon its not a sooraj barjatiya film…we have tons to deal with everyday there is the daily wear and tear and it is just plain artificial to keep on voicing one’s feelings regarding anyone every single day. So yes you keep the love alive call up your parents, keep in touch with your mates, respect and love your partners, share responsibilities regularly, feed your cats and dogs and bats but when such predefined days come up one can go out of their way and put up that fb post or send that ecard or the red rose and white lilies bouquet or write up a poem or simply call or meet the persons concerned. What is so wrong in having reasons to celebrate right? And how one decides to celebrate and express oneself is purely a personal matter which maybe shaped by that person’s upbringing, social context, schedules or his/her base personality.


As far as the claim of all these been westernized concepts is concerned well even jeans are westernized so are we all gonna switch to salwars and dhotis?!?! As far as the parties involved get some joy out of it, some notion of connectivity out of it, I don’t see it as an evil western concept come down to kill our sanskaars. (Aloknath may disagree, but let’s declare a national kanyadaan day for him). Then off course are the amchi bhumi amcha bana people who will go around thrashing like an angry Hulk on these days again reasoning it out to be sanskaron ka katal. We can have a National Thrashing Day for them, you know where we can built up a toy city for them maybe inside Filmcity and where they can merrily go and thrash stuff, beat up mannequins, throw stones at set up cafes, you know just a positive vent to all their angst.


So the point is, ‘To Do The Day or Not To Do The Day’ is as personal a choice as to use an Indian toilet or a commode, none of these choices need to be interfered with!

Happy Doodads Day Baba!(P.S.- Doodad is the Urban dictionary word for Dad, you know just to sound cool :p)

-Sneha Karle