It has been a little over a century since bras started being used in North America, and soon after, in Europe. Given that Kolkata was the shining star of the British Empire, it wasn’t long before elite Indian women adopted bras. The sari had undergone a milestone shift from its traditional sadharan drape in which a bra was totally dispensed with – naturally so, given the extremely humid conditions of south Bengal – to its modern drape. The bra couldn’t have been born at a more opportune moment.
The modern drape of the sari necessitated a blouse with a bra within. And that which the privileged wear trickles down to the less privileged too. Those times were heady, especially so for a Bengal for its proximity with the British. Women’s emancipation was in the air and gradually educated young women aspired to wear the bra.
Once they did, how did they and their surroundings react to this most unusual garment that had western culture stamped all over it? It was one thing to wear it but another thing altogether to have it co-existing with them in their middle-class bhadra-bangali homes. It was hidden from sight as it somewhat is till today. More so, it was never referred to as a “bra”.
It was instead named after its utilitarian value: A bhetorer jama, a nicher jama. Somehow this signified not just the place of the garment on the body, but also its hierarchy on the clothesline. The bhetorer and nicher jama remained tucked under and below the other clothes set out to dry.
In north India, the climate had traditionally necessitated a shirt or a long blouse to be worn with the sari or the ghaghra i.e., the long skirt worn in the desert regions of north India. Naturally the harsh winters and dry summers also necessitated underclothing that performed the same role that bras do today.
This undergarment was hand sewn to size, was sleeveless, and had a front closure secured with buttons and buttonholes. It was called the angiya, kanchuli or choli; the word choli being derived from kanchuli.
Older women wore it loose or even dispensed with it. But the younger women used white or unbleached cotton mulmul to hand sew these fitted inner garments worn with over shirts or blouses.
In urban north India, a shameez — most certainly derived from a chemise — could have meant anything from a woven cotton slip worn by a schoolgirl under a uniform, to a bra worn by a young teen.
Basically, a bra was lumped with the slip; all innerwear denoted by one word only, namely a shameez.
From then, when a bra was most certainly worn but hardly referred to by its little name, time has flown to now when the very bra is being dispensed with, especially in the times of social distancing. Even as young girls today seem as sure of flaunting their bras as their grandmoms would be of keeping them hidden. Bhetore.
The columnist is the founder-CEO of Necessity-SwatiGautam, a customised brand of brassieres. Contact: necessityswatigautam@gmail.com
