If you're friends with me on facebook, or if you read the previous post, you will have noticed that I have wrapped my face in a scarf.
Yeah...
Yeah, I suppose it gets a bit stuffy when I'm biking around with this covering my face, but it's not something that I have ever complained about. No, I'm not forced to cover my face by anyone or by any religion. No, I'm not forced to hide my womanly and therefore exclusively sexual and inherently sinful body. It's just...what you do when you're outside in India.
It's a common practice for all genders. Men will use handkerchiefs and women will use scarves. The main point of covering your face when outside is to cover your skin from Indian pollution and Indian sun. Be warned, much more dangerous than Canadian pollution and sun (Fun fact, in my Christmas book from Chris, it said that living in Mumbai for one day is the inequivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes. That's comforting!). The scarf works as a filter from dust and general smog, and an entire post regarding tanning and skin colour is soon to follow.
Yes, I definitely use my scarf as filter from outdoor India, but I also use it as so much more. I use it as a blanket for when I'm in super cold AC rooms, or as a makeshift pillow while travelling. But most of all, for me personally, I use it to hide. Since I've started wearing it daily, the stares have gotten much less invasive and terrible for me. People don't look, because there's nothing to look at! My scarf has actually become a comfort blanket for me. I sleep with it covering my eyes, and I feel mildly uncomfortable without it. Who ever said that it's wrong to get emotionally attached to a blanket at the age of 18, anyway?
Anyway.
I'm often asked how you tie it, and for this I have taken step by step webcam photos for you. You're welcome.
Yes, I definitely use my scarf as filter from outdoor India, but I also use it as so much more. I use it as a blanket for when I'm in super cold AC rooms, or as a makeshift pillow while travelling. But most of all, for me personally, I use it to hide. Since I've started wearing it daily, the stares have gotten much less invasive and terrible for me. People don't look, because there's nothing to look at! My scarf has actually become a comfort blanket for me. I sleep with it covering my eyes, and I feel mildly uncomfortable without it. Who ever said that it's wrong to get emotionally attached to a blanket at the age of 18, anyway?
Anyway.
I'm often asked how you tie it, and for this I have taken step by step webcam photos for you. You're welcome.
Step One: Place the scarf over your head. Either in the center, or slightly to the side. It doesn't matter.
Step Two: Tuck the scarf behind your ears and accept the fact that you look really awesome.
Step Three: Take one end of the scarf and hold it out...like this.
Step Four: Place the end of the scarf across your face and pull the corners to behind your head.
Step Five: Tie it behind your head. It should look like this.
Step Six: Arrange the leftover bits over the should and poof. The End. Bas. Hyogya.
And even two years later when I'm writing this, I still sleep with that scarf on my bed every night. Seriously, it's my baby blanket.
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