Portrait

not much to say right now, and the only things that are playing a big part in my life right now can’t be blogged about. (iroms has specifically instructed me not to blog about her leaving…!) but i made an observation. i guess its been happening for a long time, and it’s always talked about by various people, but maybe out of ignorance or down right denial, i failed to see it in the people i associate with. and usualy they, no, WE, are the ones accused of this certain mindset : thinking that english and ‘western’ things are cooler somehow. by ‘english’ i dont mean the english of england, but a more generalized concept. you know what i mean. we’re the ‘posh ones’.

we use english profanity, we interact in english, watch the english shows on ETV, MTV and ARTv, ripped off from cable TV, watch english movies, listen to english music, and wear westernized (and heavily so) clothes. and we quietly, maybe not violently or blatantly, but quietly judge and dismiss those who dont. ever heard that term ‘goday’? thats a term used quite often by quite a few people i know, a term used to describe the style or way of someone who doesnt wear the same clothes as we do, listen to the same music we do, or dance the way we do at parties. its a term we use to describe someone less ‘cool’, someone less ‘in’, someone less in touch with our way of life.

some of us even barely know that other different worlds exist right outside our own. we pay so little attention to anyone who doesn’t travel in the same circle as we do, we pay such little heed to someone who didn’t go to a ‘leading school in colombo’, we’d never bother to keep in touch with someone who doesnt own a mobile phone simply because then, we wouldnt be able to sms them.

there seem to be certain trademark qualities and habits that the ‘posh ones’ possess, and the ‘goday ones’ seem to have their own trademark qualities and habits. or so it seems. most often, the most commented upon thing, for obvious reasons, are clothes. because there are a few things that those of us who do judge people observe, notice and pick at. like ‘ah, he wears his pants at his waist, how goday’. or ‘ah, she’s wearing platform shoes, that’s so goday’.

at the end of the day, i dont see how it affects anyone what anyone else wears. where he wears his pants, how she ties her hair, what colour her slippers are, how long his hair is…what does it matter? for all i know, people might just be talking about me, and my friends in the same way. since of late, all of us have gotten into this habit of dressing ‘down’. it’s super convenient, super comfortable, and super fast. what more is there?
this to me means jeans, kurtha top (if it requires SOME dressing up) or a t shirt, slippers, and at best, my hair untied.

sometime ago, i went to this rock concert at the bishop’s college auditorium organized by the thomian interact club. now those things are usually nothing short of a disaster, and the only reason all of us dragged ourselves down there was so we could laugh at our friends (thomians) , who happened to be performing. the sight that met my eyes was both shocking and outrageous. there were LOADS of girls, many of whom i know were from ages 12 - 15, dressed to KILL. tiny leather skirt, spiky heels, backless tops, matching belts, handbags, hairbands, eye shadow, the works. i used to like dressing up. that day, i realized i really shouldnt bother. i’d never ever see the point in colour co-ordinating my handbag (hell, i’ve never even carried one) and belt with my top that didnt have enough strings to make a string hopper out of, i’d never ever see the point of wearing a skirt up to my eye balls, i’d never ever see the point in mustering up enough patience to get my eye make up just right. especially not to a rock concert, held at a school auditorium, organized by a school interact club. maybe to the oscar awards. NOT to a rock concert.

however, what i’m trying to say is, sadly, there are innumerable people who will go to these great extents to look fabulous, which in their opinion is an equivalent to how beyonce looked in last months vogue. but they will most probably be the same people that diss anyone for looking, or indeed being, different.

all this dissing comes from insecurity, in my theory: the inability to be comfortable with yourself and who you are and how you were born, and then the desire to crush anyone else just because it kills you to see them happy and content with not being a follower of the same trend you hero worship. all the dressing up to unbelievable fashion - magazine levels are also results of insecurity (in my theory). who are we trying to impress, and why? why is it so crucial to wear the right thing, even when we’re amongst our so-called friends, ones who aren’t supposed to judge you at all? why does it matter so much to dress like they do in hollywood? what would be so horribly wrong, if for once, you wore something normal?

i sometimes find it difficult to relate to the importance people place in these so called trends one must be ‘in’ with. they are temporary, they come and go, and it shouldnt be a crime to be out of touch or not in the know about when what comes and when what goes. i mean, they are just CLOTHES, and no matter what, they serve the same purpose. to everyone.