Recently, at a close friend’s brother’s wedding, the bride wore a traditional Himachali bridal outfit. I had never seen one before (and wouldn’t be able to name it either), which is shocking considering that I have lived my entire life in north India. The outfit was like a long coat or sherwani, beautifully embellished (though not embroidered), and it gave the bride a regal air — as if she was on her way to a coronation and not the mandap. My rather belated introduction to it is reflective of how unaware we are of ourselves and our culture and traditions, even as we participate in their extinction. The case of what the bride wore, and is wearing, is a fine measure of how we are allowing a clothing tradition from one region – the lehenga – to decimate others, without any degree of awareness or alarm.

><table width='100%' border=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 18px; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; COLOR: #0253B7;'><B>Archana Jahagirdar:</B> Wedded to one look</td></tr><tr><tr><td style='FONT-FAMILY: Arial; FONT-SIZE: 11px; '>The evangelical zeal with which the lehenga has been propagated by India

<b>Archana Jahagirdar:</b> Wedded to one look

The evangelical zeal with which the lehenga has been propagated by Indias fashion fraternity might be serving them well, but it isnt serving India or its brides too well

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