Window Seat | Mrinal Chatterjee
Cat Fact
Although cats have no great practical
utility, except catching stray rodents, human beings have loved cats for the
last 10,000 years. Cats are kept as pets all over the world. In fact cats are
the most favourite pet in USA. Over a quarter of Australian households own a
cat. No such pet-mapping has been done in India. But one can notice that cats
are popular pets in India too.
Cats are interesting animal. Unlike
all domesticated animals, even after 11,000 years of domestication, cats can
return to and adapt themselves in the wild in no time.
No other domesticated animal has seen
such wide swings in acceptance and rejection by human beings. Cats were revered
in ancient Egypt. However, since the middle ages in Europe, cats have been
associated with witchcraft and paganism and are credited with special powers,
second sight and magical abilities. The mass destruction of thousands of cats
at this time played a role in the rat epidemic and corresponding Black Death,
which plagued Europe. After that, cats gained their place within human society
in Europe and in a short time became one of the most favourite pets.
That is also interesting and tells a
lot about the peculiar character of human nature. Consider cats vis a vie dogs.
Dogs are loyal. Cats are not. Dogs sleep bellow the sofa, cats on top of it.
Dogs bark at strangers, cats hardly do that. Instead at times they purr and meawoo.
Dogs rest at your feet; cats lodge themselves on your lap. Dogs wait for you to
give them food, cats snatch theirs'. Even then, people love cats and keep them
as pets.
Shorts
As
the summer gets hotter I find many persons wearing 'shorts'. So, thought to
'give' some 'gyan' on one of the most
comfortable inventions that the humankind had ever made – SHORTS!
In Europe and America during the 19th and the early 20th century ‘short pants’ were worn only by little boys. Mature men would never wear shorts because they wanted to avoid looking childish. Only after World War II, when millions of men served in tropical environments, the perception of shorts as being something immature had changed.
Before the World War I ladies could be arrested for driving automobiles without men beside them, as well as for wearing shorts. In the first half of the 20th century, many American cities were cracking down on shorts. For example, the city of Honesdale, Pa., prohibited wearing them in 1938 because “it is a modest town, not a bathing beach”. This is why girls appearing in shorts could easily cause a car crash back then!
It wasn’t until 1932 that tennis star Alice Marble began wearing shorts instead of a skirt on the court. It shocked the tennis world, yet turned shorts into a fashion moment. However, her knee-length bottoms don’t seem too risqué by modern standards.
During the 1940s and the early 1950s, pin-up queens, most notably Betty Garble, were responsible for making shorts really short. After becoming a household name, Marilyn Monroe also made a contribution to the popularization of really vampy shorts.
A British fashion designer Mary Quant is immortalized by the fashion industry as the woman who turned ‘short pants’ into ‘hot pants’. Her super short shorts, along with mini skirts, became a symbol of the Swinging London scene in the mid-1960s and the sexual revolution.
The 1970s was the decade that gave the world cut-offs – typically denim shorts, homemade by cutting the trouser legs off.
Many modern types of shorts owe a lot to different athletic activities. Teenagers wear football and basketball shorts all over the globe. Board shorts were originally intended as beachwear and refer to surfboards. Workout or gym shorts offered the maximum level of freedom. That’s why they became popular as casual garments. After Adidas sponsored the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, their track shorts turned into a real fashion item for a couple of years.
In India 'shorts' arrived with the British officers, and stayed put. However for a very long time it remained mostly a male attire. But thanks to sports and films, gradually girls and then ladies took to wearing shorts. It gained huge popularity especially among the youth in the last couple of decades as casual wear across the country.
In Europe and America during the 19th and the early 20th century ‘short pants’ were worn only by little boys. Mature men would never wear shorts because they wanted to avoid looking childish. Only after World War II, when millions of men served in tropical environments, the perception of shorts as being something immature had changed.
Before the World War I ladies could be arrested for driving automobiles without men beside them, as well as for wearing shorts. In the first half of the 20th century, many American cities were cracking down on shorts. For example, the city of Honesdale, Pa., prohibited wearing them in 1938 because “it is a modest town, not a bathing beach”. This is why girls appearing in shorts could easily cause a car crash back then!
It wasn’t until 1932 that tennis star Alice Marble began wearing shorts instead of a skirt on the court. It shocked the tennis world, yet turned shorts into a fashion moment. However, her knee-length bottoms don’t seem too risqué by modern standards.
During the 1940s and the early 1950s, pin-up queens, most notably Betty Garble, were responsible for making shorts really short. After becoming a household name, Marilyn Monroe also made a contribution to the popularization of really vampy shorts.
A British fashion designer Mary Quant is immortalized by the fashion industry as the woman who turned ‘short pants’ into ‘hot pants’. Her super short shorts, along with mini skirts, became a symbol of the Swinging London scene in the mid-1960s and the sexual revolution.
The 1970s was the decade that gave the world cut-offs – typically denim shorts, homemade by cutting the trouser legs off.
Many modern types of shorts owe a lot to different athletic activities. Teenagers wear football and basketball shorts all over the globe. Board shorts were originally intended as beachwear and refer to surfboards. Workout or gym shorts offered the maximum level of freedom. That’s why they became popular as casual garments. After Adidas sponsored the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, their track shorts turned into a real fashion item for a couple of years.
In India 'shorts' arrived with the British officers, and stayed put. However for a very long time it remained mostly a male attire. But thanks to sports and films, gradually girls and then ladies took to wearing shorts. It gained huge popularity especially among the youth in the last couple of decades as casual wear across the country.
March Blues
Bank me ek bhi rupiya jama nehi kiya
Phir bhi income tax dept. se notice aa gaya...
Likha tha:
Kuchh Kamaya karo be...
***
Mrinal
Chatterjee, a journalist turned media academician lives on the valley of
Paniohala Hills at Dhenkanal, Odisha. He also writes fiction. He can be
contacted at mrinalchatterjee@ymail.com
This column in published in Gangtok based English daily Sikkim Express and www.orissadiary.com
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