What’s the deal with glamour?

by MALIN GURUNG

FROM ISSUE # 155 (November 2008) | IN THIS ISSUE
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The word glamour might have different meanings for different people but it is one word that is often misused and abused. From money-driven movie producers to scantily clad Kollywood actresses, models and now even the girl next door, everyone seems to use the word heavily. But what is glamour actually? Is it just showing skin and posing provocatively, or is it the X-factor that makes you standout sans the skin-show? WAVE chatted with a bunch of young people this month to find out what they thought about glamour.

Participants
Sahana Bajracharya, Miss Nepal 2008 Contestant
Smriti Baidya, Miss Nepal 2008 Contestant
Sristina Joshi, Student
Abhinav Kasaju, MD, Dreams and Ideas, fashion photographer
Tuladhar, Miss Newa 2007, VJ - Image Channel
Dipankar Kasaju, MD, Dreams and Ideas
Chirag Agrawal, Service Manager, Cannon

IMAGES: Kiran Panday Supriya

What is glamour according to you?
Sahana: It's the quality a woman possesses.
Smriti: It's charm with sophistication.
Abhinav: Being a fashion photographer, glamour has two meanings for me. One is the attractiveness a woman possesses, even without skin show, while the other is the more traditional concept of glamour.
Supriya: It's basically how you carry yourself.
Chirag: It's a state of mind. It's about learning to carry yourself well, no matter what you're wearing. 

How would you differentiate between fashion and glamour?
Supriya: A certain amount of confidence is required to be glamorous and this does not come from clothes, no matter how fashionable they might be.
Smriti: Fashion is all about clothes, while glamour is about behaving a certain way in a given place or situation. People usually confuse these two terms or ignore the difference completely.
Dipankar: Yes, the same applies in fashion photography. A model can be glamorous just by the way she expresses herself in front of the camera; fashionable clothes are completely secondary.

Why do you think being glamorous is taken as a sin sometimes in Nepalese society?
Smriti: The people's mindset is already set that way. Most of them give us negative vibes for just wearing makeup.
Supriya: I don't know why, but it certainly does happen. I was grilled by my parents and relatives just because I was the only one in a party to wear an evening dress.
Sahana: Yes, I don't know what the fuss is all about!
Dipankar: It might be because girls start at such an early age when their total focus should be on studies.

Sahana

Why do you think that men are not considered glamorous?
Sristina: It's probably just because there is not much skin show among men.
Abhinav: It may be because the male body is not as appreciated as much as the female's.
Sahana: It's simply because women have the power to change people's perception through their appearances that men so lack.
Smriti: It may be because there is no definition of how a male body should be. And yes, they don't show as much leg as women.
Chirag: Well, even if they did participate in skin-show the society which is still dominated by men accepts it.

Dipankar

In your point of view, was it fair that Miss Nepal was stopped from taking place?
Smriti: No it wasn't. They openly snatched our personal rights. It was a loss for all the participants as well as the whole country. They are doing this for cheap publicity.
Dipankar: It is not only illogical but also illegal to stop a prestigious event like Miss Nepal. I think that the protests were held only for some unknown organisation to come into the limelight.
Sahana: Yeah, who knew Amrita Thapa before these protests?
Abhinav: It is a big blow to democracy as well. I think that if they were really worried about women being objectified, they should've been the ones to close the dance bars, not the home ministry.
Sristina: It's not right because these kind of events bring out hidden talents of the participants.
Supriya: The grooming that you get in these pageants will be helpful for the rest of your life.
Chirag: Miss Nepal is not exactly a bad thing. If you look at the career graph of the past winners, they all are enjoying prestigious job titles and are doing well for themselves.

Smriti

In your opinion, have the Nepali people been too influenced by the western glamour world?
Sristina:  Yes. And now it's not only Hollywood, but even Bollywood has made a huge impact on people's minds in terms of how they dress up and follow trends.
Abhinav: We are not running after their trends, but we are following their developments.
Smriti: We are influenced by the west to a certain extent, but I think that we have to balance our lives. No matter how rapidly our surroundings maybe changing, we still live in a very conservative society.
Sahana: I don't think that people are being influenced as such because most Nepalis don't even have access to print or electronic media.

Chirag

Do you think sari is a glamorous attire?
All: Yes it is.
Sahana: Despite the fact that half of the woman's back and stomach is seen, sari is not seen in that light because it's traditional attire and looks very graceful.
Sristina: People don't seem to object about it because the legs are covered.

Name one personality that you find glamorous.
Smriti: Aishwarya Rai, because she's the perfect combination of brain and beauty.

Sristina

Sahana: I find Jung Bahadur Rana very glamorous because of the power and determination he had.
Supriya: Sushmita Sen, my dad and the dynamic Bhushan Dahal.
Abhinav: I find Bipasha Basu very glamorous.
Chirag: It's got be Aamir Khan, Aishwarya Rai and my friend Susan Shrestha because he is my mentor.
Dipankar: I can't name any one person because the rest of the models who have worked with me will kill me.