Rajpal's Column

2nd May 1999

Sartorially speaking, which sarong is buoyant now?

By Rajpal Abeynayake

The debate on the sartorial merit of the sarong is Aravinda de Silva's signal contribution to the social discourse of Sri Lanka. Hopefully he is not wearing the garment in his Hotel room in Lancashire or middle England or wherever he is right now, and that's a sincere hope. In cricket, even a pulled muscle is always less dangerous than sub zero gonads.

Aravinda de Silva's achievement with the sarong is good as his century at the World Cup final in Lords, for the simple reason that he has succeeded in bringing the sarong from the fringe into mainstream dress culture. For example, the current minister of Telecommunications, in a certain era before he lost his innocence, used to be seen in sarong at various social functions. He probably still wears the garment in the most inner of inner sanctum functions. But as far as mainstream events go he has abandoned the garment.

So it would be fair to say that what Mangala Samaraweera had was a casual dalliance with the sub - culture of sarong cladness. But, from what we heard , Aravinda de Silva issued a sarong decree, and had all guests at his wedding conform to that dress code.

By doing this he Ferrarifyed the sarong -- that most humble garment, provided it is worn in places that are not as harsh as Lancashire Hotel rooms.

But by Ferrarifying the sarong, did de Silva actually make the garment a la mode, or did he make it more exotic?

That's difficult to tell. For instance, the sarong wrap is án attire that has at various times, found fans in some of the folks flaunted as the worlds most beautiful women, such as Naomi Campbell or Nastassia Kinsky or whoever. But they didn't do so much for the sarong as any waiter at Galle Face Hotel did.

So when Aravinda de Silva decreed the sarong wedding, he obviously spawned a whole copycat show of events in the future, where glittering and shiny sarongs would be de riguer.

But, there are sarongs and sarongs, and when those who are most comfortable with a sarong at a wedding feel most comfortable at all other places in a denim, there is a slight level of discrepancy that makes us curious.

For instance, you wouldn't find de Silva driving his Ferrari wearing a sarong. So though he has Ferrarifyed the sarong, he has done so by way of association of ideas.

But there could be an argument among the sartorially conscious (this article is strictly not for others ) that what de Silva did by way of Ferrarifying the sarong has to be slightly qualified. What he actually did was that he Ferrarified the Malaysian sarong.

The Malaysian sarong is what Naomi Campbell or Nastassia Kinsky would wear in Bali or Phuket or some part of Jakarta, and they would call it ---- the sarong wrap.

The crux of this matter is that even Aravinda and his wife would know that you cannot choose to tie the knot , while there is a Sri Lankan knot on your sarong. Now, the Sri Lankan knot. That's one that makes the sarong a garment plus a living cultural statement.

For example, one of the Deputy Editors of the Midweek Mirror , our sister paper was discussing just last week ( see what Aravinda has palpably done to the sarong ) about an interview he did with a former Attorney General who was a mild and wonderful man of corpulent proportions.

This journalist was in such backslapping terms with the AG, that he was once invited to discuss some sort of constitutional crisis that was of particular importance to the press at that time. But, the AG was not willing to forgo his afternoon siesta for any crisis, constitutional or otherwise, so he invited our scribe to his house. The matter was of some importance; the AG's secretary had been asked to be present to take down notes.

But, the man was by all reckoning of great stature; he wore only a Sri Lankan knot on his sarong . Not for him these ersatz Malaysian affairs. But , to make the long story short, as he heaved his considerable bulk and got up from his sofa to make a point, the Sri Lankan knot decided to unwind as these Sri Lankan knots often decide to do in any case . ( They have a life of their own - those knots. ) The AG paraphrasing Winston Churchill before him, however, quipped before his secretary and the scribe could gape that the "Attorney General's department has nothing to hide.''

(Winston Churchill, who gave an interview to a war correspondent during one of the most fierce weeks of WW2, is said to have talked to the intrepid scribe from his bath clad in his birthday suit.)

"England,'' he said famously " has nothing to hide."

So that's how strong and full blooded a sarong can be in its purest Sri Lankan rendition ; with a knot -- like a konde -- of such complexity that it converts the sarong from mere garment to cultural edifice.

But yet, Aravinda de Silva's service was surely for the Malaysian sarong.

Though his wife must surely be thinking that it is enough her husband being criticized for his cricket , without having to be criticised for his sarong, such apprehensions have to be laid to rest because this is not a critique. Its a cursory treatment of the cultural trends that occur when the sarong goes places -- places almost where it doesn't hang .

But hats off to Aravinda de Silva for choosing the Malaysian sarong to do this bit. Now, if he had chosen to Ferrarify the Sri Lankan sarong, knot or not, that would have been a epic event that should have made it to the social studies books.

But along with baila and the brass paparay bands the "sarong wrap'' can be treated as cultural excrescence. Ferrarifying that brand of sarong , come to think of it is not so bad. Its like taking coals to Newcastle or Leicestershire or whatever

It is only if Aravinda and his fans/guests decided to look like the maha kalu Sinhalayas or alternately the bajaar cognoscenti from the Maradana and precincts -- knot a la Sri Lanka and all -- that he would have won for himself sartorial kudos that could have been equal to a century at Lords.

Commentary

Editorial/Opinion Contents