One crucial difference between Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s beautifully costumed films—Devdas of 2002 and Goliyon Ki Rasleela Ram-Leela (GKRR) of 2013—was the clothes. Devdas, set in West Bengal, had breathtakingly pretty and pained heroines, heavily decked up but all covered up, and miffed men in stately dhoti-kurtas. Outstanding, but never outrageous. In GKRR, the costumes crackled with erotic chemistry: Deepika Padukone’s risqué cholis worn with embroidered ghagras and Ranveer Singh’s macho, come-kiss-me swagger togged in a Kutchi pagdi (turban), dhotis with unbuttoned kediyas, and aviators.
This difference travels from reel to real if you compare the attire at Durga Puja pandals and garba events during Navratri, two enormously popular Indian festivals that concluded this week. The former sees old-style resplendence—typically, traditional saris and embroidered kurtas. Nothing is conspicuously attention-seeking. At the garba event organized by the Vadodara-based fund-raising organization United Way of Baroda, however, the costumes told a tale of continuity as well as change. With more than 35,000 registered participants this year—men, women and children—this was more than an ordinarily boisterous vanity fair. Launched in 1986, it is, in fact, known as Gujarat’s largest Navratri event (going by the number of participants), and was held this year at the Alembic Ground.
Like a sea of textiles, the chaniya-cholis seen here combined chintz, Ajrakh and Bagru block prints, Ikats, Leheriyas, Bandhini, Shibori and Mashru fabrics, net and lace, zardozi and Banarasi brocades, heavily embellished mirror work, Parsi embroideries, Chanderis and Tussars. Some were traditional Gujarati costumes straight out of history books; others so modern that you wondered what was inspiring the change. The colour combinations were psychedelic. Then there were laces teamed with appliqué and gota patti, crochet or cutwork paired with backless or deeply cut cholis with two strings at the back. Age was no bar. Nor was nationality. There were many foreigners dressed in glitzy chaniya- cholis.
You didn’t know where to look amid the jewels, and hairstyles decked with flowers, tattoos and trinkets. “You start thinking about an unusual combination and the next moment you see it on someone. There is nothing that has not been tried, nothing imaginative left for anyone to do better,” says the glamorously styled 23-year-old Anubhuti Sharma, a chemical engineer who works with the Royal Dutch Shell oil company in Surat. At her parents’ home in Vadodara, Anubhuti and her mother Deepti Sharma put out their dozens of chaniya-cholis on clothes lines with assorted cholis and dupattas to mix and match for the garba every night. This is an annual ritual, and mother and daughter add to their chaniya-choli collection every year.
For 51-year-old Kalpana Tarak Thakkar, Navratri preparations are more exciting than the dressing up she did for her daughter’s wedding. “I wait for the garbas, shop through the year, picking up jewellery, old saris, antique laces, printed fabrics, then get them cut them into chaniya-cholis,” she says.
Nevertheless, masculine shringar is still the bigger story at the moment. If the strappy, itsy-bitsy choli is the site of change in female dressing, men’s costumes ooze hyper energy. Silk dhotis worn with sleeveless brocade vests or tailored black jackets and orange headgear, some traditional pastoral costumes, drenched with mirror-work kediyas, triangular wraps tied around waists, turbans and topis in a dozen styles, appliqué kurtas paired with pleated salwars.
The male body language was distinctly macho even during the garba spin on the ground, unlike fashion weeks, where most of the best-dressed men are gay.
There were political statements too. One group wore Save the Cow posters on their heads as paper cut-outs; one even had a Narendra Modi mask. Another sold the Go for Green story, with plants growing out of turbans. It was reported earlier this year that non-Hindus would not be allowed into garba venues in Gujarat, but there were no overt signs of this.
Peculiarly, everything, however imaginative, had a “Gujarati-ness” about it. For the older women, religious fervour and live music by the globally well-known garba singer Atul Purohit and group, a constant at the United Way garba, are motivations. For young girls, it’s a melting pot of fashion, a time to bond with friends and boyfriends, try out new make-up, flirt, take endless selfies, savour their freedom and convert the moves they pick up at salsa or Bollywood dance classes into the traditional garba—all socially sanctioned ways of revelry.
The local markets soak it all up. Vadodara’s Alkapuri market was bursting with ready-made chaniya-cholis as well as “materials” of various kinds, mostly powerloom fabrics from Surat priced affordably. Tailors turn out chaniyas overnight. Some women spend Rs.1,500-2,000 for one chaniya-choli dupatta set, others as much as Rs.20,000 for an ensemble. Shops have separate counters for ready-made cholis stitched in the current trend—scooped at the back, padded at the front, with beaded or embellished strings holding the garment together. These strings haven’t changed, even though the halter choli is a new beast. “Beauty parlours are booked up before and during Navratri,” says Deepti, adding that this is the time for a focus on hair and body treatments, tattoos and facials.
Hundreds of residential colonies and groups organize garba events around Gujarat, and it’s generally safe for girls dressed in chaniya-cholis to drive around on scooters well past midnight. This, says Atul Patel, vice-president of United Way India, is crucial to its success. “Men can register for Rs.2,500 and girls for Rs.250,” says Patel, adding that no criminal incident or molestation charge has been reported in the 30 years that the event has been held. Registration requirements include a copy of a person’s Aadhaar card and photo.
“An environment of safety and protection of girls may also be a reason behind the fashionization of the choli,” says Sanjay Srivastava, a professor of sociology at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. “But beyond these nine nights, gender asymmetries are not very different in Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.”
If the visual stimuli doesn’t exhaust you, there is a lot to take back from the garba ground. From a fashion point of view, the most relevant is the insistence on the chaniya-choli as the garment of choice, banishing even the sari. “It’s conscious protection of tradition,” says Geeta Goradia, a United Way trustee. Suddenly, you realize why so many Indian designers are obsessed with making decorative lehnga-cholis their commercial signposts. This is the trickle-up effect. Western suits for men, otherwise an unquestioned sign of modernity, are outsiders in this costume drama. Who said modernization is a linear idea in India?
Haute Garba
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The largest Garba event organized by the Vadodara-based fund-raising organization United Way of Baroda, saw some 35,000 registered participants this year.
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With suits and saris, even salwar-kameez, this is a riot of ‘chaniya (Gujarati for lehnga) cholis’ for women and ethnic menswear for men.
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For young girls, it’s a melting pot of fashion. Some seen here with florally decked hairstyles.
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The chaniya-cholis combine chintz, Ajrakh and Bagru block prints, Ikats, leheriya, Bandhini and Shibori fabrics, net and lace, zardozi and Banarasi brocades, heavily-embellished mirror work, Parsi embroideries, Chanderis and Tussars.
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Some spend Rs1,500-2,000 for one chaniya-choli dupatta set, others as much Rs20,000 for a day’s ensemble
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Men’s suits, otherwise an unquestioned sign of modernity, are outsiders in this costume drama. Preferred sartorial styles are silk dhotis worn with sleeveless brocade vests or tailored black jackets, traditional headgears and appliqué kurtas paired with pleated salwars.
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Men and women tried to make a collective statement—a group came wearing all-black silk outfits with orange and Bandhini turbans.
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Some participants wore shimmering Brazilian masks.
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Foreign nationals too joined in the revelry.
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Hundreds of residential colonies and groups organize garba events around Gujarat.
