In Praise of White Trousers

What a strange race we are!

My 'wear-'em-anywhere' whitesFor millions of years our ancestors contentedly roamed the planet clad only in Mother Nature's minimalist finery – in the colder climes, a caribou fur or fox pelt overcoat, in the tropics a fetching plant fibre loin cloth or cotton wrap around – simple, yes, but more than adequate. In those socially carefree days, out hunting you wore the fox skin furs; bed time pyjamas, it's the fox skin furs; someone's getting married, it's the fox furs again – practical, warm, de rigueur for all hunter-gatherers and nomads and unanimously accepted. In our post-neanderthal civilisation, what to wear is a major preoccupation, at least for those living in the more affluent West.

For Sri Chinmoy's male students one of the great things about our path though is the reduction of our contemporary overabundance down to one magnificent multipurpose garment - our set of whites! My favourite whites hang poised in my cupboard like a knight's armour, waiting to be donned for some new adventure. In this one resplendent outfit, I can honestly and sincerely claim to have: