I got a dressing down

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I don't know whether to continue this guessing game or just say it upfront. Suggestions to only write romantic fiction have come too. Didn't know my life sounded romantic. Gives me a high.

We had just started going out to discs as the discotheque was called in those days. Never heard these words till Bombay happened. I am not those who cling to the past, so Mumbai or Bombay is just the same. In Gujarati, we always said Mumbai and never Bombay. Kolkata was always Kalkatta and not Calcutta with an Anglo Indian twang. Men were always guys in Mumbai never boys. So the terminology gradually seeps in like bad words and stays with you.The discs were pubs with DJ music and dance floor. I never understood what DJ meant. Just went there in this desperate urge to stay with the gang and act cool. The most important part was to come back and say you are so tired coz you had so much fun. It was a joke, the way I would pretend to gel in. By the time I really started enjoying this disc pub outings, I was married. No, I dont mean it was end of all the fun:)Always Remember the husband reads the writing on the wall.

We would all go in a girl gang to the disc. The outing would be on one day of the week when the entry of girls was free to these places. Other days there was a couple charge and Stags were not allowed on any days. God, so many rules even outside the hostel. It would be a big event these night outs. Girls would be bleaching, face packing, shampooing, nail polish changing. The best part for others was borrowing clothes. One went from room to room asking girls if they had something to wear. I was quite shocked about this concept of borrowing stuff to wear to go out. Somehow girls even had same footwear sizes. I think we looked and dressed awful. But it was a learning process. College gave me those years to try and experiment different looks. I d have short hair, perm, long hair and same happened to the hemlines.
My mom came to know that for one college event I was in a skirt and top with a bit of my super flat stomach showing. I told her my dress wasn't like that. A friend borrowed that outfit and I never asked for it back.
I guess the issue was with my own sexuality, self image, morality, upbringing and what I want others to think of me. All this drove my dressing and behaving in those days. I am so much more comfortable in my skin now. I just don't expose. I only wear clothes which cover well, hide flaws well and look flattering. Then it is all about getting compliments about how well I look even after having two children.

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