Love you Skirts !

Dark, plump, hairy hands/legs - That pretty much described my teenage and early adult days. Oil ,talcum powder, shinkar bindi and kanmashi were probably the only make up items i was exposed to. No beauty parlors ,threading, waxing whatsoever ! The first time i threaded my eyebrows was for Vineetha chechi's wedding, in third year of engg..Can never forget the pain but the outcome was good - felt like a forest cleared to build a house. That beautician had done a great job - she gave my brows a nice shape which was to continue forever (or until now) and got me many good compliments !

Coming back to the intended content, so plump and hairy that I was wearing skirts stopped probably at 10 or 11 years of age. The outfit chosen for me was churidar , many a time old ones from cousins adorned my almirah ( I used to love wearing those ). It continued during college days too. We had uniform but on rare occasions when we could wear color dress, churidar was the chosen one. Only difference was i stopped wearing readymade ones and started getting them stitched customized to my needs. I don't have any memory of wearing jeans or pants either. 

Infosys training in Pune was a game changer. The crowd was a mix of south Indian s and North Indians - probably the first time in life i am confronted with so many white skinned people. They disliked my color, especially my hairy hands. Northies are usually fair, with straight hair (not oily) and eat with spoon while we usually have curly oily hair and eat with hands.  Though busy with studies, exams and mini projects but still had some complex while they were around. Thanks to the mallu friends around , we always flocked together and in their company i was happy. Infosys also had this norm of Monday formals , so i was forced to start wearing trousers and tops. Few of my other friends didn't have them either, so we went shopping to Laxmi Road. For my size, i just got 1 pair, so ended up wearing the same set on all Mondays. Back in Mangalore, i continued the occasional parlor visits for eyebrows and rarely for hand waxing. Legs were never exposed , so never bothered to wax them. Mangalore was fun because most people were from Kerala or Karnataka. My makeup set hardly enhanced from what it was at home. Earning on mu own was a big change maker - we did several small trips to nearby places, i got amma new watch and sarees, bought myself new salwars etc. The feeling of spending achan's money (guilt) was gone ! Again deviated.

My marriage was fixed within an year at Mangalore (I still wonder how this plump, fair guy said Yes, both of ours being the first "pennu kanal" as they call it ). It was shopping time. Jewellery, sarees  etc what achan could afford. I didn't have any fancy idea of first night or honeymoon, so didn't think of buying any "special" clothes. The saga of salwars continued with jeans and top once in a blue moon. I had a short stint at US and on the way visted Sree at London. I wa wearing a long jeans skirt and a pink formal top. He later told me i looked like Revathi in kilukkam and it was a boring vesham. After reaching US, came to know I was pregnant. My only thought was to return to India ,be with Sree and have a safe delivery. No fancy ideas of maternity wear either ! Following were the days/months/years of nighties for homewear (I will never buy another one even in my next  birth) - long shapeless drapes with zip to breastfeed baby. Officewear was churidar and at home i slipped into these nighties. Years passed and both were toddlers. I shed weight in the process ,unknowingly , probably due to the running around between office , home and day care. My looks were last in the list of priority items. Monthly parlor visits were only for eye brow shaping. Hair loss was increasing by the day and to add to it Appu used to pull my hair. Sree suggested that i go for boycut and i was so hurt by this . How i had imagined long curly hair and someone is asking me to do a boy cut! With heavy heart , finally i went to this parlor in Madiwala but luckily the parlor lady suggested a step cut. That was a game changer as my looks became way better with the layers and curls. I felt more confident and did occasional hair cuts in the Infy office parlor too. Upper lip hair remained and were never removed until we went to US.

Getting western clothes for my size was still a challenge and i went with just a handful to US. I went to office in desi style only to find out that everyone was well dressed - western wear, lipstick and absolutely no oily hair . One day my manager hinted if i could consider taking off the upper lip hair too. Parlor was too expensive but i had no choice. That was when i bought an epilator also. (The first experience shaving my legs with it was so painful that I did it over several days.) By then (2014-15) , my looks had become far better. I stopped going to office with oily hair, i was groomed better and started exercise too which toned my body. Zumba was a new discovery during this time and i thoroughly enjoyed dancing to loud music at the Fitness Center. Learnt about different diets, importance of cutting carbs and increasing protein intake ,richness of quinoa and many such things. There were lot of employees who just got big salad bowls, kept them in pantry fridge and ate a portion for lunch. Hair cut, waxing and exercise changed my body and my looks. It gave me a new confidence. The shops there had fashionable outfits and i was happy to fit into S while in India even XXL was small for me ! One of my friends , much smaller in figure than me, always wore skirt even to work. Influenced by her and my new rejuvenated body, i started shopping for skirts and tops. Ross and Marshalls - These were the main ones which sold them at discount. Even today, many of those skirts and tops are with me. I try to keep my body toned so i can wear them. It makes me feel young and confident. I love you skirts ...you should have come into my life earlier or I should have known your comfort and shaped myself earlier....

PS : While skirts pose threat in a crowd and have to be complimented with proper shorts,  palazzos and their three-fourth avatar coulettes are my other favorites. Love the airy feeling :) 

I landed in London in 2005 in a denim shirt and pink formal shirt is described by Sree a "kilukkathile Revathiyeppole"..It pissed him off and he told me skirts don't look good on me.After a decade when i started wearing them again, he still didn't seem very supportive. It is 2021 and i still don't know if he is fine with it. I love the comfort and you will be my dears , i promise !