In Praise of the Lungi: And in defence of being called a lungiwala
As fractious exchanges go in Parliament, this was a mild one. CPM MP John Brittas was speaking in Rajya Sabha. Sushmita Dev, BJP MP, kept interrupting and he was okay with it until she crossed a line. The alleged insult used was “lungi wala”. Privilege notices have been filed, newsprint and online bits and bytes devoted to it. Others have chipped in. Leader of the House JP Nadda said his party doesn’t subscribe to such words. And yet, as a Malayali, one must ask: what is so derogatory about being called a lungi wala?
Brittas, speaking to a news agency, said it was a stereotype. He also said he was actually wearing a dhoti. This is somewhat unforgivable. No one in Kerala says dhoti. It is mundu whose less formal avatar is the lungi. The mundu is white. It is elegant, especially when bordered with gold or silver threads. But the lungi is the real deal, the go-to of the hoi polloi. Also, no matter what the image they present to the world, most of Kerala’s men live in a lungi once they get inside their homes. There is no shame in the lungi. If you call an Englishman trouserwala to insult him, should he feel humiliated or insulted?
This is a piece of garment, or at least the idea of the lungi, that is as true to India as any of its earliest Harappan pots. All it takes is a rectangle of cloth. Maybe, hem the ends if you are fussy. Sure, you might go to sleep in it and when you wake up it might be on the other side of the bed, but that is just a matter of getting the knot right.
Brittas, a leader of a communist party, should have embraced the slur because it is, after all, the everyday wear of the proletariat. Also, that is the way to respond to people who shout lungi wala to a Keralite. And does Dev, who represents West Bengal in Rajya Sabha, not know that the lungi is proudly worn in her state too?