A Volunteer's Story: Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places

Volunteer Sylvia Mendez (wearing her favorite kurti) with
Field Assistant Archana Iyer. 

Beauty is a loaded, but often obscure, term that changes cross-culturally. That word, as I had viewed it traditionally growing up in New York City, self-proclaimed fashion capital, was the last thing I expected to find in India. The humid heat, sometimes with very little relief, and the deliciously greasy Indian food that I most-enthusiastically ate, left little room for me feeling ‘pretty’ or ‘beautiful’. The salwar kameez, an outfit consisting of a kurta, a long cotton shirt, and a pair of salwar, roomy linen pants, came to the rescue of my growing belly and my battle with the heat. 


Ahmedabad is somewhat conservative, at least from a Western perspective, and thus there are certain fashion no-nos for women and men. Women, for example, must not wear anything that exposes skin beyond the mid-calf. Sleeveless shirts are not recommendable and cleavage is definitely unacceptable. As for grown men, they cannot wear shorts, because it’s considered boy’s clothing.

Changing the way I dressed to fit into a more traditional environment made me feel as though I was taking a step back into a time in which women were not allowed the freedoms I took for granted in the U.S.. Surprisingly, I had a lot of fun with buying grey, purple, and even orange salwar pants. As for kurtas, my favorite one was red with gold speckles, making me feel special each time I wore it.

Look at all the colors!

The longer I was in Ahmedabad, the more apparent it became that girls have fun with it too - mixing jeans and kurtas, or sometimes wearing skirts. Girls wear bangles of all colors on their arms and, after a special occasion, you can usually spot intrinsic henna designs on their hands. Young women in Ahmedabad are also not shy about wearing make-up; thick, black eyeliner is certainly a staple. 

Whether they are conscious or not of the social restrictions imposed on their dress, women in Ahmedabad have a special gift for revealing and enhancing their beauty.


When I arrived back home to New York in August, I felt a little shy about wearing knee-length skirts or even shorts. With time, I have comfortably slipped into my normal fashion tendencies; however, I do often question the pressure to dress provocatively, a feeling that some women may encounter at one point or another in their life. After encountering a different concept of beauty in Ahmedabad, I have come to understand that there are many ways of expressing beauty with some forms being healthier than others.

Submitted by: Sylvia Mendez, India volunteer 2008, Malawi volunteer January 2008
*Part VIII in our Reflections series: How we internalize what we learn abroad into who we are back home. Email submissions to info@worldcampforkids.org or katy@worldcampforkids.org. All forms of reflection encouraged!