Figure 1.--These boys live in a Kerala fshing vilage people and were photographed about 1965. Notice the fishing canoe in the background. All of the boys except the youngest wear a traditional skirt like garment called a "dhoti". Only the younger boy wears Western-styled shorts. Since this photograph was taken, Western clothes have become much more widely worn.

We have only limited information on this time on India's various regions and states. One HBC reader has provided us information about clothing styles in one state, Kerala, which is a southwestern state on the Arabian Sea. We have developed some information on the clorges worn by boys in Kerala aswell as a variety of other topics bearing on the manners and stykes of the clothes that people wear.

History

Kerala has had contact with the West beginning in pre-Roman times. There were contactsith the ancient Greeks, the Roman Empire, and the Arabs. Kerala has been colonized by the Dutch, Portuguese, and finally the English. Traces of these European colonists can still be found in Kerala. Children sing Portuguese folk songs. No one understands the words, except perhaps a few Catholic priests. The most obvious reminder of the Portuguese are the beautiful baroke churches. As in the rest of India, Western culture has never overwealmed the local culture as has sadly happened in some other areas. Ancient habits never fully disappeared in Kerala.

Economy

The principal economic activites in Kerala are agriculture (rice, coconut and other palm trees, spices, coffee, tea, and other crops), forestry, coastal fishing, fish and prawn aquaculture, heavy metal mining, trade, and seafaring. The general income level is higher than elsewhere in India, but still poor in comparison to Europe and North America.

Population

The people of Kerala are called Malayalis. Kerala had a population of about 20 million in the 1960s. A few million Malayalis live elsewhere in India and abroad. The southern Dravidian race is predominante in Kerala. Although it seems that the higher classes (such as the brahminical castes) look closer to north Indians and have generally fairer complexions. The Dravidians are dark skinned, the more they work outdoors (such as fishermen and agriculural workers) the darker they appear and some look as black as Africans. Their hair is balck, but some have straight and other curly hair. Men can have string beards. Most people trreat their hair with oil (coconut oil or other) thus their hair looks gressy.

Language

The Malaualis people of Kerala speak Malayalam. The mother language of Malayalam is probably Tamil. English is taught in the schools and many people, especially the middle class speak English.

Religion

The principal religion in Kerala, as in most of India, is Hindu. Hinduism comprises many styles of creed and religiousness, both, poly-, mono- and atheistic, and is by no means a homogeneous religion as Europeans understand this word. A wide variety of Christian denominations are found in Kerala including some that are exclusively found there. About 20 percent of the population is Christaian. There were 25 Catholic bishops in Kerala in the 1960s. It was easy to meet a bishop on the road or during a marriage as the celebrating priest. Kerala also has many Moslems of both major denominations. Most are Sunnits but there are also Shiites as well as Sikhs. There are also Animist people in the forest who revere natural objects like trees or rocks. There were also Jews in Kerala, both "white" and "black", but I believe most have now immigrated to Israel. There is, however, a beautiful synagogue in the city of Cochin, its floor made of blue and white Chinese tiles given by the Dutch in the 18th century or so (similar to the Delft style in the Netherlands).

Social Class and Caste

As in the rest of Hindu India, the castes system is prevalent. This is not only for Hindus, but the whole society more or less recognizes a caste system. It has little to do with the individual's religion. One HBC reader maintains, "The caste system is not as unjust as western people usually believe (though there are a lot of sufferings under unjust caste structures), because it supplies a social network and a personal home in this vast country." The population of India now exceeds more than 1 billion people. It was only about 0.3-0.4 billion in the 1960s.

Climate

The climate in Kerala is tropical, moist and hot. Fortunately along the coast there are a few breezes during the evening, and thunderstorms appear many nights, especially during the two monsoon seasons, some rains appear with heavy rain. The frequent thunder storms cause many people to carry umbrellas which are also useful in the hot tropical sun. Because of the lack of wind, northern India is actually much hotter than southern India (although the latter is closer to the equator). It should be stressed, however, that European visitors to Kerala will find the climate very hot.

Topography

There is much water in the lowlands of Kerala, in fact throughout the length of this state, one lagoon or lake follows another, and many rivers pass through the state coming from the mountainous Western Ghats flowing into the Arabian Sea. In the low lands and the hilly region towards the Western Ghats, most Keralites live and have an intensive agriculture and fish and prawn aquaculture.

In the Kerala mountains (the southern and highest portion of the Western Ghats), dense rain forests still exist, but like all over the world they are being cut down and developed. If this continues it would be disastrous to the land and the Kerala population.

Enviromental Impact on Clothing

Both hot and moist climate and much water make it possible for mosquitoes to thrive in great masses and size. They are the carriers of a few dangerous diseases such as malaria and elephantiasis. The people fight a constant battle between protecting their body against the mosquitoes, letting cooling breezes to their skin and having enough money to buy the proper clothes. Social habits with regard to clothes play lesser roles. So I still have seen conservative families in which men and women wear almost the same, a white skirt (dhoti), a small bodice for the women or a towel over the shoulder for the men. It seems that this was the habit still hundred years ago throughout the whole of the Malayali population almost in all castes--very simple and with very little vanity for ones own social position. So the South Indian clothes are more or less adapted to the climatic conditions.

Most boys wear very little clothes because of general tradition and the climate. Like for all non-Westernized people, the clothes are loose, letting even the smallest trace of a breeze reaching all parts of the body. Otherwise perspiration will start immediately, and under dense clothes skin disease (like fungi) would have possibly fatal consequence. A HBC reader reports, "This I have been told by many men who thought they had to adopt Western Nylon shirts and pants. Generally all clothes wore in Kerala are made of cotton, the only fabric really acceptable in this climate.

Garments

The most common garment worn by boys in Kerala is the "dhoti" or a kind of short skirt, although men might wear longer lengths. Another skirt like garment is a "lungi". A dhoti is made by folding a plain pirce of "khadi"--a thin cotton fabric. Some boys in the past wore home woven fabric. It was once associated with the poor, but Mahatma Ghandi in the 1930s promoted the weaving of cloth in the home as part of a boycott of English products during the independence movement. Today most of the favric for dhoti is profuced in factories, but now domestic Indian mills and not imported. Many boys in Kerala go without shirts, except for school and special events such as religious services and festivals. Many boys wear short plants if not wearing a dhoti. Going barefoot is common.

School Uniform

Kerala in addition to Bengal is one of the best educated and literate areas of India. Kerala school children wear uniforms which is the case throughout India. Shirts abd bliuses are nirmally white. Boys wear short pants and girls skirts. Khaki is the most common color, but vlie is also worn as well. Many children did not attend school in the 1960s. This is still a problem in the 2000s, but many more children now at least attend primary school, especially the boys. While uniforms are worn in city schools, children in villages and small towns often wear traditional clothes to school. Girls may wear long white or colored skirts oe even saris. Boys wear both shorts and tradotional garments like dhoti and lungi.

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Created: August 30, 2002
Last updated: August 30, 2002