Fifties Facts          

India in the 30s and 40s

Clothes and Jewelry


By Sunita Rajiv Chikhalikar


In my grandfather’s (mother’s father) time, the married women in the household wore the traditional ‘Nau Vari’ sari. Draping the sari was an art in itself. My grandmother used to wear light colored blouses with no design or delicate designs on them and her saris were either dark or light; but they were always gold or ’zari’ bordered.

She used to wear mega- sleeved blouses with a front round, a Vee or a U-shaped neckline but the back was generally a closed neck. The draped sari’s end, called ‘Padar’ in Marathi would be brought over the right shoulder. She would fix a brooch on her left front, to bind the blouse and sari together.

Bangles would adorn her hands. The series of the bangles to be worn would be: first the gold bangles called ‘Patlya’, then a set of alternate colored glass and thin gold bangles and finally towards the wrist, gold bangles called 'Tode’. She would wear a pair of flat-heeled leather chappals or slippers.

Moti-studded stones called ‘Kudya’ would adorn her ear lobes. A small red colored ‘Kunku’ on her forehead and a gold chain or a necklace, called ‘Pohe Haar’ along with a ‘Mangalsutra,’ a set of black and gold interwoven beads would grace her neck.

She wore a middle parting and her hair was oiled and combed, to be swept on either side behind her ears, to be coiled into a neat bun called ‘Ambada.’ She would sometimes tie it into a single braid called ’Veni.’

My grandfather (whom I never saw-- he expired before my birth) was a jovial man. He would wear a suit and a pair of trousers over a white pristine shirt and a lightly designed dark tie. White or light colored socks and immaculately polished black shoes, with a pen on his chest-pocket and closely cropped hair would complete the effect.

My grandmother was sixteen at the time of her arranged marriage.

My mother was born in 1940. In those days, babies were also adorned with jewelry. All gold or alternate gold and black beads were sewn together to form a bracelet called ‘Mani Mangat’ and they were worn on the wrists. Silver anklets named ‘Wale’ with silver beads called ‘Ghungroo,’ bejeweled the ankles. Gold chains prettified the neck. Baby clothes were always stitched at home and were called ‘Zable.’

Home-made ‘Kajal’ was used to enhance the eyes of the babies in those days. In my household, a Copper spoon would be held over a flame which was lit by dipping a clean cotton wick in edible oil or ghee. When it darkened due to the soot of Carbon deposits, the same would be collected and filled in a small box and home-made butter would be mixed in it. This Kajal was used as and when required. All ladies in the family also used it because it not only seemed to augment the eyes, but also refreshed them.

Terms used for family relations in Marathi:

Husband : Navara
Wife : Bayako
Father :Wadil or Baba
Mother : Aai
Brother : Bhau
Elder brother : Dada
Sister : Bahin
Elder sister : Taai
Grandfather : Aajoba
Grandmother : Aajji
Great grandfather: Panjoba
Great grandmother: Panji
Grandson : Pantu
Grand daughter : Panti
Paternal uncle : Kaka
Paternal aunt : Aatya
Maternal uncle : Mama
Maternal uncle’s wife: Mami
Maternal aunt : Mavashi
 

 

 

 

This is the photograph of my grandmother taken in the 30s in a studio.

This is the photograph of my grandmother and grandfather, taken in a studio in the 1930s.

This is the photograph of my mother at seven months, taken in a studio in the year 1940.

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