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We were invited to the wedding
of Govind's sister today. I was planning to
go there in the normal clothes that I was wearing
the whole day. However Yashendu and Ramona brought
something new for me to wear. For me it did not make
much difference if I go in old clothes or new
clothes. But as they had bought it especially for
that I decided to wear it. The others went to buy
clothes today because it will still take some time
until our suitcases will be here. When they came
home they showed me the Dhoti that they bought for
me. I do not wear any sewn clothes. In 1988 I
stopped wearing sewn clothes. I had been wearing Kurtas and all normal Indian clothes. On the day
that I decided not to wear this anymore I was in
Bombay to give a lecture. It should start soon and I
wanted to get ready but my silk Kurta was not
ironed. There was nobody around who could do it and
I myself have never ironed. I thought "How can
I go to give a lecture now without my Kurta?"
And I realized that I do not want to depend on a
piece of cloth and if it is ironed or not. So I left
the Kurta and went with two Dhoti. Since that time
this is my clothing. I gave away all my Kurtas and
sewn clothes and did not wear any until this winter.
At that time of the year I am normally in Vrindavan,
in India where the temperature is never in minus.
However this year I was in Germany and at a
temperature of minus five degrees I thought it would
be better to wear a pullover underneath. I have worn
this for the first time since 20 years. I even
bought snow shoes. This kind of shoes I have never
had on my feet before! I just want to say I do not
stick to this kind of 'rules'. I have
said this many times: Daily break one rule. After 20
years in loose Dhoti I can still wear sewn clothes.
However it is nice that I do not need a pullover in
India.
I liked
the essence of the traditional ceremony but not much
all the showing off that is around it. However I
love to share and celebrate people's
happiness because this makes them even more happy.
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