The recent ban on the wearing of Kashmiri pheran (traditional wear) to government offices in J&K despite having been revoked is now unleashing the talent of Kashmiris worldwide and how!
Pheran ban has not only made social media colourful with people posing in their favourite Pheran and uploading pictures, but also thrown open campaigns, competitions, which has only popularised one of the best traditional wears from the valley.
And now a Kashmiri Pandit community in Chicago, United States have composed their own version of the famous Bollywood Song, Lungi Dance, and renamed it "Pheran Dance." The entire Chennai Express Song has been recomposed, although the tune of the originally Honey Singh's hit number is the same.
In the hilarious video, a group of Kashmiri Pandits in US are wearing sunglasses and Pherans. They can also be seen dancing to the Pheran Dance song mimicking the Bollywood Superstar, Shah Rukh Khan.
Not only Pheran but also the lyrics of the song have been fine-tuned to include other aspects of Kashmiri culture such as Dum Aloo ( traditional Kashmiri vegetarian cuisine). The Kashmiri version of Lungi Dance has typical Kashmiri anecdotes mixed with Hindi lyrics, which is outright funny.
Here is the video:
After imposing ban on #Pheran , #Kashmiris are enjoying that ban by wearing Pheran pic.twitter.com/Hook9CUwZS
— Riffat Wani (@waniriffat) December 20, 2018
The trend of #PheranLove started when the J&K government had asked its employees not to wear Pherans to offices and also banned people from wearing it to the Civil Secretariat. Soon, there was a huge criticism to the official directive which forced the administration to revoke the order.
Besides being comfortable wear, Pheran has a huge symbolic significance in the valley and its culture. Some of the national and international dignitaries visiting Kashmir have been spotted wearing Pheran. The First Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi, the ex-Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia Gandhi have all professed their love for Kashmir's attire.
Even BJP leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi have worn Pheran while addressing the people in Kashmir.
