Faces on the fringes: ‘Does wearing salwar-suit make a person good?’

Faces on the fringes: ‘Does wearing salwar-suit make a person good?’

Speaking at an educational institute in Gorakhpur last week, Union minister Satyapal Singh said “no boy would marry a girl who comes to the mandap (wedding stage) in jeans”. Sweta Singh, a first-year BBA student of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya University, Gorakhpur, says clothes are not a pointer to who one is: 

You seem to love jeans. Do you see them as Western influence?

There’s nothing Western about them. It is people’s lowly thought that a girl wearing jeans is ‘loose’. Salwar-suit pehenane se kisi ka character achha thodi ho jata hai (Does wearing salwar-suit make you a better person)? I wear jeans and shirts when I step out, and capris, shorts, T-shirts and jeans at home. My mother, a homemaker, wears suits and saris. Not me.

Do your parents object?

No. Why? In fact, my father, who is in the transport business, would find it strange if I didn’t wear jeans. My elder brother is obsessive when it comes to my security but he has no stake in the clothes I wear. If they ever did object, I would discuss it with them. Meri marzi hai, meri life hai, ispe koi rok lagane wala kaun hota hai (It’s my choice, my life, what right does anyone have to put up an objection)?

Are there any curbs at college?

No. We have a uniform — white shirt, black trousers. It is the same for the boys. On Saturdays, when we can wear what we want, most girls choose Western wear. Our teachers do not discuss our attire. No one in our circles judges us by our clothes.

Would jeans be inappropriate wear for a wedding?

If one is comfortable in it, why not? Shaadi ka jeans se kya lena dena (What is the connection between the two)? I am going to marry only after I find a good job, to a man who does not force me to change the way I live, work or the clothes I wear. Many women now wear Western wear after marriage.

What do you think of minister Satyapal Singh’s remarks?

Vulgarity can never be defined by one’s clothes; it is in people’s minds.