Short Pants For Guys?

maury

First visit to India, packing now and leaving next week, so was wondering: do guys wear short pants there? I don't mean just at beaches, but in general, in hot weather? I would also figure that shorts are not acceptable in religious places and would want to dress appropriately there.

I am 65, have great legs, and like wearing shorts, but will be just as comfotable covering up, if that is the proper way to go.

Advice appreciated!

machadinha

Hm, yes, it's been discussed before of course. I would say no unless in a very leisurely setting; others will say yes. Go figure.

I should add I grew up in a tropical touristy setting where shorts would equal idiotic tourist, we'd proudly wear our jeans no matter what the temperature. So what do I know.

I should also add Indians who tell you shorts are fine are maybe a lot more comfortable getting around locally.

Anyway, I personally think light cotton trousers might suit you best yes. In religious places, try and keep your legs and (upper) arms covered, certainly, and this may indeed well be mandatory. It's just a simple sign of respect, right. Being right on the beach is obviously another thing altogether.

In short btw (and no pun intended), I don't think anyone will hold it against you so much (well, you might feel decidedly out of place in downtown Delhi Mumbai Bangalore etc.), you might just feel less conspicuous if you don't.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

manali4now

Short pants, board shorts, short shorts or speedo? Give us an idea! Knee length "board shorts" I think are acceptable in city and rural places. However, short shorts and speedo (whick fall a few inches below your "bits and bobs") are strictly beach dress.

Nick-H

Knee length is ok. You see a lot of male lower leg, because the traditional attire is often worn with a reef taken in.

Most Indians are indeed comfortable about getting around, yes?

karuna

(If you scroll down to the bottom and look under "similar threads", there's....a lot of weird looking titles.... )

__________________
Mosquitos suck.

Nick-H

Goodness, yes!

Men: What Pants/ Trousers do you wear in South?
Shorts or Pants???
Unable to Communicate? My Pants!
Man in Khaki wets his pants
Thai Pants (Trousers) in Delhi

dzibead

Yikes! When I first read this I thought you had taken up writing some kind of avant garde poetry.

__________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln
"The perfect is the enemy of the good." - Voltaire

altmtl

I'm partial to 3/4 pants these days - but I also bring convertible pants that you can unzip to become shorts - beats going to the toilet to change & makes visiting churches/temples etc. uncomplicated.

__________________
http://profile.to/jimlevesque/

sannna

I am with Machadinha.

In general "no", not so much because people can''t handle the sight of bare male legs, but because people don't wear shorts themselves generally. Especially not the middle aged and older ones.
Yes, the dhoti (traditional male cloth) leaves the back of the legs open, but if I make a comparison with the saree, it would not be appropriate to walk in a tight tank top that ends above the belly button as a woman, just because people here are used to seeing that part of a woman's body due to the saree. It is simply not the same thing.

If you do wear shorts, people won't say anything, and they might not even think much about it. My "no" is mainly based on the fact that you will stand out as a "foreign tourist", as you will be one of the few people wearing it.

altmtl

what about my 3/4 pants!!!!! LOL

PeakXV

Age has nothing to do with it from my observations. Lots of middle aged & older Indians go for a stroll or walk the dog in their shorts. If you want go shopping in shorts, a walk in the park, or sightseeing in general and the day's climate & your personal preference indicate 'shorts' - then just do it!!!!

__________________
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

curtdfw

I just returned from living in Delhi and B'lore for about 4 years. Shorts--and I'm mostly talking about the baggy, right around knee-length sawed-off cargo pant style, are perfectly OK, at least in the urban areas. I recall no issues with visiting religious sites either. Lots of locals are wearing them. Don't wear them out for a nice dinner -- India is more dressy that way -- but don't make it a big deal. You're a foreigner, and no one expects you to be exactly like a local...

It was a little different in 2001 in Bombay, when it seemed much less common (the attitude at the time seemed "only schoolboys wear shorts, adults wear long pants") but the country is changing at a breakneck pace, for better or for worse.

One more thing -- the cargo pant style--long or short--permits you to keep your wallet and valuables in a front pocket, a big feature in crowded markets like Palika Bazaar in Delhi (though I'm NOT recommending going there)

Nick-H

I'm not talking about dhoti, I am talking about vesti or lunghi. often worn half-length, reaching only to the knee.

A better female comparison would be the madisar, which exposes lower calf of the female leg --- and try telling an old-fashioned orthodox Mylapore Brahmin lady that she is not dressed respectably!

Of course, with the vesti/lunghi, one can undo and lower it back to the ankle whenever.

I see Indian men on the street wearing shorts --- but I admit that they are in a minority, and that ones that I know who wear them around the house will change into long trousers to go out.

There's always different points of view to these questions. My wife complains if I walk into the street outside our house without a shirt on. I say that the next-door pujari sits outside his temple with no shirt. She says that that is different...

dcamrass1

As being non Indian,white skin, no way is there a chance of me and wife be mistaken as Indian so...... short trouser or not? - Still wear knee lenth shorts also when in India, nothing to do with age

Nick-H

Oddly (see my profile pic) I do sometimes get mistaken as being Indian. Apparently, there are places in the North where fair skin and hair and blue eyes is known, and people who make this mistake usually speak to me in Hindi.

But, generally, yes... you are absolutely right.