Geetanjali Krishna: Vignettes from Joggers Park

Every morning in the park next door, I see a couple of joggers pounding the tracks with great enthusiasm. Panting and out of breath, they still continue to chatter, mostly about movies and college. The two girls would be no different from countless other determined runners in countless other parks, save for one thing. They jog wearing burqas. Over the weeks, since we see each other every morning, we've reached the stage of exchanging tentative smiles of greeting. The other day, one of them had donned a particularly festive burqa. When I complimented her, she said, "it's so great that we're getting so many styles to wear now. My mother says that when she was young, all they got to wear was a stout, plain black burqa..." Looking at the world through Hamida and Shama's eyes, I got an entirely new perspective on this ubiquitous Muslim garment.

Burqas today are not merely voluminous veils behind which women hide their modesty, I learnt. "No one has forced us to wear burqas," the girls told me as they walked a couple of rounds of the park with me. "We wear them because they're a part of our culture!" The burqa had immense fashion and styling possibilities, they assured me. The girls said that they spent a lot of time browsing the Dubai fashion blogs for burqa styling ideas with their friends. "For instance, this year, ladies there are wearing beautiful lacy abayas (veils) over two-tone long dresses..." said Shama with a deep sigh.

As the two college goers pointed out a couple of other stylish burqas in the park to me, it was as if suddenly the world of traditional fashion had opened up to me. "See that one? It's made of crepe, very expensive but quite impractical in this weather, especially to wear to the park," said Hamida. She personally leaned towards a simple black cotton garment with a lightweight veil in a contrasting print. "And I often wear my track pants underneath!" said she with a giggle. Her friend Shama liked crepe and silk burqas as they draped better than cotton. "But they're very expensive, you could pay up to Rs 5,000 for one..." Shama's father, a tailor, never let her buy readymade burqas as he found them unnecessarily expensive. "He doesn't understand that tailors never get the finish of a readymade garment! I like the ones with a little embellishment. Nothing over the top - but a little detailing with embroidery and crystals on the neckline looks so nice!" she complained.

Where did they get these styles of burqas, I asked. "Earlier we had to only rely upon local tailors to stitch them," said Shama. "Some had acquired more name than others, and had waiting lists as long as your arm!" said Hamida. Today however, they liked to order their burqas on the internet. Not only were there more styles available online, the prices were quite competitive compared with what they could get in their local shops. Since the garment was so unstructured, it was quite easy to order online, they said. "Online shopping also allows us to see what women like us are wearing in Hyderabad or Kashmir… So there are more options available," said Shama. Both the girls were on Pinterest, and said they got some interesting design ideas from there as well.

"As a garment, it is not unlike the sari. It's traditional, but versatile enough to be worn for all sorts of occasions," said Shama as we finished our last round of the park. "I love the burqa too," said Hameeda as she fanned herself. "If only someone created a special burqa for joggers like me!"