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THE WAY OF LIFE
tinct style. The area where a person lived could be known from his or her dress and decorations. In those days, Kings and society insisted that the people of a certain area should wear the dress and decorations of that area. Therefore, they were famous traditions and it was considered the duty of grihastas to conform to them.
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But after the British came to India and established their power, there appeared a great change in the styles of dress; and after India attained independence, all norms regarding dress and decorations disappeared. The European styles of dress spread throughout the country. Each began to wear any dress he liked without caring for healthy norms and traditions. Nobody opposes it and nobody gets angry with such people. A Gujarati wears the dress of a Punjabi; and a Punjabi wears the dress of a Gujarati. Who cares for the directions given in the Dharmashastras regarding dress and decorations? And now, the styles of movie celebrities have become decisive in this regard.
ACT WITH DISCRETION AT LEAST IN RELIGIOUS PLACES
At present, in respect of dress and decorations there are no Deshacharas (national or regional traditions) but they depend upon individual whims and fancies. People have begun to wear dress and decorations only with the motive of making themselves attractive in their own eyes and in the eyes of others. Half nakedness has become the widespread fashion. Under the pretext of being fashionable, women have begun to exhibit their physical beauty. Men also have totally forgotten all norms of decency in dress.
Even those who come to religious centres do not care for decency in dress and decorations. The evil effects of this tendency are clearly visible but society closes its eyes to those evils. In the temple of the Paramatma they do not feel ashamed of themselves in the presence of the Paramatma. In the upashrayas (religious centres) they do not feel ashamed of themselves in the presence of spiritual heads. People come to
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