Silk Pants

“S……..ilks” with a high pitched Chinese accent was often heard on the pavements of KG road during 1950s, followed by the refrain “sthichabble like cotthon, washable like cotthon”. Men of East Asian origin, with heavy backloads of cloth, paraded the stretch between Mysore Bank square and the Majestic circle eager to show their wares to office goers. They parked themselves sometimes on office fronts and opened up their bundles to reveal shimmering pieces of cloth mostly in harvest shades meant for pants and bush coats. The price was bargainable and the sales pitch was persuasive. My colleagues Narayana and Vasu bought two pieces of what was called “pant length” and gave it to their tailors for stitching and wore it with pride. The fit was perfect, the fall superb. Came the day when the pants had to be washed-- the pants almost became knickers when put in water--they had shrunk beyond fit. Where were the salesmen who sold the cloth; they all looked alike with indistinguishable South-Asian features-peas in a pod !