February 1, 2012 - Kurta shopping

A kurta is the name for a traditional piece of clothing worn in Nepal (as well as India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka). Basically, it is a long tunic that falls to just above or below the knees. This is usually worn with loose-fitting paijama bottoms. In essence, the bottoms are almost like clown pants: they are incredibly baggy and kept up with either a drawstring or elastic around the waist. Kurtas can be worn by men or women, but I have only seen women wear them in Nepal. The kurtas (complete with matching paijamas and scarves) are incredibly elaborate, often with bold colors and sequins or beading.

This afternoon, Krista and I went Kurta shopping with a few other women we have met through Krista’s family friends. It was an experience, to say the least. Kurta’s are traditionally sold as a set of fabrics (one for the kurta tunic, one for the paijama pants, and one for the scarf); these fabrics are then custom-tailored to fit the purchaser. We walked in to the store to find one wall covered with book shelves, with were essentially then covered with sets of fabrics.

The owner and other workers immediately began pulling down the sets of fabrics, opening them up for all of us, and then laying them out on the ground.

They proceeded to do this with at least half of their inventory, if not more. There were piles, and piles, and piles, and MORE piles of fabric scattered throughout the store. If you didn’t like one option, “no worries;” they would simply offer you five more to replace the one which you didn’t like.

The options were gorgeous, no doubt. I had decided ahead of time, however, that I would not have a kurta set made, as it was unlikely that I would really ever wear it (either in Nepal or back at home). So while the rest of the women were sorting through these piles of fabrics, I set back and watched. And it was exhausting. We must have seen hundreds of different fabrics paraded in front of us, with every single color of the rainbow and any possible pattern you could think of (often combined in one set of fabrics). After everyone was done shopping, it looked like a bomb had exploded within the store.

Despite insisting I was not going to purchase a kurta, I couldn’t walk away from the store and all of those gorgeous fabrics empty-handed. Instead of leaving the store with a kurta, I bought a pretty scarf instead. For me, this seemed more practical.