The In and Out, Hot and Cold of Style
By Adnan M. S. Fakir
Trends are apparently a much talked and revered topic. Of course different people try to do this in different ways fitting to their personality: we have the hotties and the naughties, the chesras and the suited, the un-bare naked and the borkhas. Some score easily thanks to their parents' genes and some take a while also thanks to their parent's genes. God must be one happy being watching us compete in this cumbersome game. Anyway, I am here to point out some of the categories (mostly of the male and some of the female) that people usually resort to falling into while trying to increase self-respect by looking good (or so my friend says) or while trying to catch the opposite sex. Animals have it much easier I tell you; especially those Bonobos.
Kobi Kobi Bhaab, Kobitar Obhaab: With winter chill creeping in, shawls are the in-thing nowadays. There has been a recent outburst of this group and they usually are the laziest laid back ones. Limping inside a Panjabi with a gabardine pant (paijamas are so out of style) with half torn sandals and an empty shoulder bag dangling down to the knee, these are the "avid" followers of Tagore and Nazrul although they probably never read Shesher Kobita or Bidrohi, let alone the rest.
The Pankha Attire: Need I say more? This one is old. This lot either wears very tight jeans or very loose baggy ones with bandanas wrapped around their eyes and shiny 40 taka sunglasses that barely reflect the sun. The top is usually a tight fit to show off their tiny bits of muscles or a half opened shirt showing off their oh-ever-so seductive chest hair, which I am sure all girls find irresistible. Not to mention, you can almost always identify the colour of their underwear. Interested in seeing these creatures? Take a hike to Dhaka College or outside of Viqarunnesa and I am sure you will see them tanning themselves in the sun while munching on a cigarette. They are the cool dudes of Dhaka.
The Air Circulation Outfit: This is one of those awesome dress ups that is slowly falling out of the race in the next generation. Lungi and santo genji are without a doubt the most comfortable of all clothing any men will ever set their eyes on, with advance air circulation and evaporation system that our summers demand. Sadly, they also get the lowest score in terms of attracting the feminine feline species and hence the dropping out. Darwin really carved the world out for us; survival of the fittest indeed.
The wannabe CEOs: Give them winter, summer, spring or the rainy season, a casual hangout or a holud, they will always wear their executive tapered fit of white shirt tucked into their silky Raymond pants with a tight blazer either worn (and sweating at times) or hanging from their arms. They are the future of our economic system vowed to take over the Wall Street at first chance. Their "corporate" moody mood does get along with their attire and more than often you will find them talking (or pretending to be talking) on their blackberries from dholaikhal for hours in front of the corporate office buildings. I am pretty it's an effective technique to catch the ladies attention. You should try it and then let us know.
The Pagla Baul Attempt: These men are the ancestors of the "Kobi Kobi Bhaab, Kobitar Obhaab" category. Wearing super long Alkhalla, which makes them seem like that are not wearing any pants, and long curly hair that they can bounce from one shoulder to the other like a bouncing bunny, they claim to carrying on the heritage of Lalon Fakir and Abdul Shah Karim. Apparently they make most girls jealous with their thick and long sometimes braided hair. Hats off to them really; how many of you can pull that off?
The OCD obsessed maniacs: These guys are the always tip top, shiny and polished in terms of clothing no matter where they are. I can assure you that if they did take off their clothes under beams of sunlight, they would sparkle like Cullen and all adolescent girls would go all gaa gaa and goo goo. Imagine a whole army of sparkling Cullens; oh my God that would be the end of the world! Anyway, yes they seem to suffer from some form of obsessive compulsive disorder but hey they at least don't stink of sweat. That would literally be suicide for them.
The Sly Seduction Attire aka the Hottie: A last bit on two categories of the ladies. Sarees are a very culturally derived form of clothing and we have managed to renovate them into however we want them to be. This group wanted them to be complete men magnets. With an almost completely bare back and open tummy (obviously an extension from Bollywood) and just one pull of achol as cover, these women win the men over before they even have to snap.
The Un-Bhodro Dress Up aka the Naughty: Don't really have to talk much about them do I? They are the wonders of our age and oh how we thank them for their existence. Ranging from super tight tops and jeans they will wear anything that will stick to their body like spandex. Obviously I am not complaining but some people sometimes do. We should obliterate them. Apparently being able to wear to their will builds their confidence and freedom but sadly it also sort of segments them out from the main stream Bangladeshi society. Clearly we still have a lot of learn and accept. May their numbers increase in stacks. Amen.
