"...why don't you wear track pants for the morning walks? They are very comfortable..."

"...why don't you wear track pants for the morning walks? They are very comfortable..."

...said the younger of the two ladies, while sipping on the coconut water, as the summer sun blazed down upon the beach with all its glory.

I was sitting on a chair at the coconut vendor's cart after the jog at the beach this morning. I signaled at him to indicate that I needed a coconut after 5 min and not right away. A lady, perhaps somewhere in her 40s, was already sitting on one of the chairs with a coconut in her hand. A minute later, a senior lady (could be in her late 60s I guessed) walked up and took the chair next to her. 

Now there's something very fascinating about some ladies. And this is purely based on my observation and not a gender bias (I hope). They can work up a conversation instantly with any other lady on the globe and chat away to glory, having a good time. I have seen my mom do this a lot throughout my life. When I was a kid and we used to take the local train to go anywhere, she'd effortlessly start a conversation with a lady sitting next to her in the ladies compartment. "How can you just start talking to any unknown lady every time in a public place?" I'd often ask her...I never got a concrete answer to that though. 

Coming back to the scene at the beach,  these two ladies struck up a conversation and in no time they discussed about where they stayed (both had their home near the beach) and what their family members did. I had no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation but they were loud enough so there was no way to ignore the talk. I did not have popcorn to enjoy the conversation, but I figured it was time to ask for that coconut now. While I was sipping on some sweet and cool coconut water, I heard the following:

YL (Younger Lady) : Why don't you wear track pants for the morning walks? They are very comfortable.

OL (Older Lady) : I know they are very comfortable, I do wear them at times when we go on vacation.

YL : So why don't you wear them on these morning walks too?

OL : I can't. My jethji (husband's elder brother) stays with us and it wouldn't look good.

YL : Everyone wears such pants these days. What do your husband and son say about this?

OL: I've never discussed it with them. It is a small thing. Why bother. This Indian wear is fine too.

A couple of min later, all three of us bid goodbyes (the ladies atleast did to each other, while I bid them in my mind) as I pondered over what I had just heard.

We've seen several posts, articles, webinars and other content on empowering women around women's day and women's history month. How about making ourselves aware & encourage/empower our sisters/mothers/grandmothers/aunts to at least cater to their basic needs of comfortable dressing?

C̶h̶a̶r̶i̶t̶y̶ Awareness begins at home.