I couldn’t have asked for a nicer return to India. My friend Bharat was waiting for me at the airport and it was so nice to see a familiar face when stepping into the heat and sea of people waiting outside of Chennai Airport. We got into a cab and headed to a hotel for the night to rest up before making the trek to Coimbatore in the morning. Once we settled into the cab, Bharat reached into his knapsack and handed me a bag, saying that it was a gift from all three of my workmates. I opened up the bag and found a piece of cloth that I had coveted during my entire last trip to India- a lungi!
The lungi is the traditional legwear in Tamil Nadu. It is a long piece of fabric that westerners might call a manskirt but I assure you it is much more than that. It is actually very practical because of its diversity- you can wear it down to your ankles or fold it and wear it to knee level depending on how hot you are. It is also quite breezy, a major advantage for the hot climates of southern India. I don’t know if I’ll be wearing it every day but it’s a nice alternative to pants, especially on a hot day. Who knows, maybe I’ll even try and start a lungi trend in DC and SF when I get back!
