Nightie Nightmares

Have you ever wondered how and why the dress Nightie (I hate to call this a dress!) came into being? And why women-folk wear it in broad daylight even though its name clearly contains NIGHT as the first five letters? I have always wondered if this dirty wretched cloth will ever go out of use among Indian women.

So why do women buy this dress and more importantly, why do they wear it outdoors? Be it dropping off their kids at the school bus stand or haggling with the vegetable vendor in the mobile cart or backbiting neighbor X while talking to neighbor Y (and vice versa), women hold on to the garment more dearly than their lives! Really, do they not realize that the nightie is supposed to be worn in the night, and more importantly, indoors?! Most disgusting is their idea of living up to the Bhartiya Naari image by grabbing any piece of cloth to cover their top, the most common being the mutli-purpose towel used to clean the stove-top, wipe their faces and to wipe off their baby's ass - all with the same 1'x2.5' piece of cloth! The towel is worn over the shoulders, to serve the purpose as does a dupatta! Really, I do not see the purpose of wearing this extra piece of cloth when the nightie itself is so loose and hardly reveals any stats of the woman!

Do the husbands not care an iota about their wives going outdoors in such a bad costume? Perhaps, they wear a worse costume such as a Komanam (Langoti) and hence, do not see the nightie in bad light!

I am sure you must be aware of how women in India are so fond of nighties. Well folks, unfortunately, this is not limited to India alone. I have witnessed a woman wearing a nightie (thankfully,without the multi-purpose towel!) in broad daylight walk up to the community gym in California! I still cannot believe the audacity of the woman. She strides towards the treadmill and gives herself a good work-out. She then continues towards the exercising cycle. The next step she takes shocked me outta my skulls! She folds the lower part of the nightie (it was easier since there was no petti-coat/inskirt there!) in typical Rajkiran style (of En Raasavin Manasile fame - thankfully her jatti was not visible like his!) so she can pedal the cycle without any interference! Really, it would've been more respectful had she come to the gym in a two piece bikini!

I think the first question every NRI should ask his bride during ponnu parthufying (Meeting the girl for the first time) is whether she likes wearing a nightie. If the answer is an enthusiastic yes, he'd better reject her!