At the time when I left India, it was still very labor intensive country. We lived in what would be considered condemned squalor according to any western standards; however in India it meant that we could afford a maid, or "servant" as we referred to her, who came to our squalid apartment twice a day and cleaned and did laundry (by hand) among other things.
The point of all this is that our laundry got done daily. So, I only had two pairs of underwear. I had one on, and the other was being washed. So, when I came to the United States and checked into my dorm room, I washed my undergarments daily. My roommate asked me why - and I told her I only had two pairs of underwear.
I am not sure if she thought that I had just forgotten to pack the rest of my clothes or if she understood that at the age of 21, I only had in my possession two pairs of panties and bras - and we are not talking Victoria's secret here. Neither me nor my roommates had a car, but we were walking distance from a Sear Town. So, my first shopping experience in America was my roommates taking me to the Sears Town across the street.
This was before the large malls made it to India. An upscale clothier was a small bay, air conditioned, with shelves loaded with clothes and middle aged men trying to convince the teenage girls to buy specific outfits because they made you look like the sexy Bollywood starlet. Not sure if you've run into too many middle aged Indian clothiers - but this was never a attractive prospect for me.
So there I was - in Sears. Needless to say, I was duly impressed. Tons of merchandise presented in a accessible fashion, you could pick any of it up without the assistance of any middle aged Indian gentlemen. They had rooms where I could try things on before buying them. What a concept.
The next challenge though, was figuring out what size I was. the panties - I could see they would fit. the bras was a entirely different ball game. They had two parts to the size. the band size, and the cup size. All the Indian bras I had possessed were just one number. If you happened to be large person with small cup size - too bad. You got the cup size you got, start collecting tissue papers. If you were a skinny person with a large cup size, expect your boobs to slide out of the band over the course of the day. You got what you got. How innovative to figure out that essentially, there are two sets of shapes you are covering - the cylindrical torso, and the semi circular boobs. Measure them individually and combine the two shapes and you have a bra that actually fits! I knew that I was going to like this country.
Many years later, I was discussing the advantage of living in the United States to my Indian uncle who had never traveled outside the country. He couldn't understand the point. You worked long hours, you went home to your families, you vacationed from time to time and you hung out with friends. Could it be bras that don't ride up your boobs and panties that don't look like grandma panties?
