Dress Code

"Is there a dress code that has to be followed here?" I asked with bated breath.
"Oh yes, Sarees are a must."
.................
WHY?????????????? I wanted to shout at the person on the other side of the desk, but I didn't.
I was sitting in the office of the principal of a school. This was the fifth school I had visited to give in my application for the post of an English Teacher. All of them had made it crystal clear to me that sarees happened to be a compulsory dress code for a teacher. Imagine what it must have done to someone like me, who feels totally out of place in a saree, who cant even walk properly in it and who is not at all herself in it.........
The worst thing was that I couldnt forsake the chance to do the best thing I loved; teaching, just coz I was expected to dress myself in a five and a half metre garment that I found extremely uncomfortable.
I remembered what my aai(mom) used to tell me, ' don't ever say that you don't like a particular thing, eventually that is what you will end up having to do.' It was so right in this particular situation. It definitely increased my respect for aai a threefold.
Well, now I had the mammoth task of buying a few sarees that could be draped easily. Cottons was out of the question coz they were high maintainance and very difficult to dress up in. And it wasnt the end of it all, after the saree was bought, it had to have a matching blouse which had to be stitched. Not to mention all the other accessories that have to accompany the saree..
But I was still fighting with myself over the school's role to make this sort of a dress code. Their idea of this dress code was to avoid any teacher dressing in an indecent manner. So evidently, they thought that saree was a very decent attire. I am sure Sushmita Sen as the sexy, saree clad chemistry teacher in 'Main Hu Na' would prove them totally wrong, wat say???
But what if a teacher came clad in a saree but was unable to teach well??? Time and again I thought that if I had posed that question to the authorities they would have said that it was okay as long as she had draped herself in a saree!!!!!!!!
'Help me!!!! Some one help me.' was all I could think of doing.
After a lot of thinking and a lot of debates with myself and my near and dear ones, I decided to look at the brighter side of it all - This might be the only way that would make me learn how to carry myself in a saree. So wish me luck and dont you dare come visit me in school to see my plight, at least for a few months till I am able to get better at it. Ha Ha.