Jumping onto the hijab fashion bandwagon

SO, AS usual, with any good thing going, every Mike, Tyke and now Nike jump on the headband wigwam – coming up with a hijab sport range.

And in the process, Nike, not exactly being your third grade corner store but right up there with the bourgeoisie, scores a lot of attention, gratitude and an overwhelming amount of money from a community that forever sees itself as marginalised.

It’s also quite possible that there will be fringe benefits too, for Nike, as everybody else besides your average Muslim damsel will want one too to make a reconciliation fashion statement and become part of the crowd, as well as assisting the slipstream around the obviously more aerodynamic design and to offset any unfair advantage offered by the Hijab in any athletic event.

Historically, probably just a desert sandstorm filter for ladies with long hair, the cover eventually became a habit and later another excuse for women to run for cover if their man saw them mistakenly without one. Besides the headgear, the cloak and full purdah were probably invented to protect modesty and prevent women being perceived as attractive objects.

This plot was long lost as the glitter of shiny sequins from Samarkand, glass beads from Bahrain, diamonds from Dubai and pearls from Paradise made their way into the crafty hands of firstly male lady-tailors, from Mumbai-Central and Central-Karachi, before ending up as templates for giant, electronic, industrial machines of Beijing.

So now, even not too-attractive women become most attractive after visiting the cloak markets of either faraway, unaffordable Dubai, or somewhat affordable and more nearby Sparks Road .

Some of these cloaks, amazingly, still retain a few square centimetres of modest black, akin to the northern hemisphere where lots of shiny stars but few pieces of dark sky are seen.

So the original plot prevails, modesty wins the day.

EBRAHIM ESSA

Durban