Take a look at these photos. Can you spot the similarities?
You may notice that I have a scarf on more often than not. Was it cold in India? No. I left right when it was actually getting cold-ish. In fact, India was really hot - shocker, I know. Regardless of the heat, I wore a scarf. Yes, it may be fashionable, but that wasn't the reason why.
India is a very religious country. If you were to visit, then I would imagine that a few temples or holy places may be on your list of things to go experience (which I highly recommend - I'll keep you posted). But as you know, there are ways of being respectful in those circumstances that you must abide by. This includes covering your head. If you don't have something to cover your head when visiting these places, then you either can't get in or they will provide you with something... Thus, the necessity for the scarf.
If you’re a man, then you may be feeling like this doesn’t apply to you. Wrong. Everyone has to cover their head at certain temples/religious sites. Just like how some places will either require you to remove your shoes or wear shoe covers. If you are required to remove your shoes, I always saw an area where a couple people were working where you drop your shoes off and pick them up afterwards. It might seem odd, but we never had issues with it.
It varies from place to place. The Taj Mahal just had us wear shoe covers. The Lotus Temple had us completely remove our shoes. There was a mosque where we had to wear a cover over all our ‘Western’ clothing. And it was usually the religious sites where people still were practicing that we had to cover our heads.
If I had my scarf, then I was good - never stressed about that situation coming up. To clarify, I'm not talking about a huge, knitted scarf you might break out when you see snow. I'm talking about the thin ones that you start to wear when the leaves change color.
The scarf also helps with protecting yourself against the elements: especially dust and the sun. Wearing a scarf does help you blend in with the people as well. We would try and wear clothes we bought there - and it does help. But regardless, if you’re Caucasian, then you will stick out regardless. I think some of the locals that we met had only ever seen a handful of people with pale skin.
I bought all my scarves there, and would say regardless of if you’re going to stay in India for a short or long period of time, you will definitely want to buy scarves in India. Textiles are a huge part of India and they make some beautiful scarves of all varieties.
But if you do catch yourself having to wear something ridiculous to be respectful, then just go along with it. Take in where you are - not what you're wearing.
To be continued...
B9
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