For the love of hankies

Ritu Kumar

Nostalgia gripped my mind as I arranged the wardrobe of my daughter-in-law. Looking contentedly at the neat pile of assorted clothes, I was reminded of the suitcase my mother packed for me at my wedding. Handkerchiefs scented with rosewater and adorned with precious embroidery were a huge part of dowry. My mother kept a vibrantly embroidered hanky with every sari. So, I have a warm association with them.

Nevertheless, hankies always had an important place in our lives. Teachers used to check whether students had hankies or not in their pockets in schools. We used to play games with them, making paper boats and aeroplanes, etc. I used to iron my grandfather’s hankies and earn pocket money. In buses, ‘a spread hanky’ on a seat indicated a ‘booked seat’. No one dared to shove it aside. Knots were put in hankies to remember something. They were waved to say goodbye to one another. Even today, a hanky serves as a good luck charm, fashion accessory, a gift and also as a mask in times of Covid.

Throughout history, there have been very few items used for multiple purposes. Among them, hankies have an interesting story both as decorative pieces of clothing as well as a means of communication between lovers. Originally known as ‘kerchief’, the word ‘hand’ was prefixed to it in the 16th century when people began to wipe their faces with it. Perhaps the earliest reference to hanky comes from Catullus (87-57 BC) in his poems. They became a fashion trend in France where they were called ‘couvrechief’ (headgear). During the Renaissance, the hanky became an essential accessory, as is apparent from the words of Erasmus, ‘To wipe your nose on your sleeve is boorish.’

The popularity of hankies boomed in Europe after Othello gave a hanky brought from the East to Desdemona. When Othello discovered it in another man’s possession, it led to death all around. In the Victorian era, women dropped hankies while walking past men. The young men would pick, return and romantic affairs began. The girls used to embroider the initials of their husband’s name on the hankies and they were never used, but kept as remembrance.

Picking up a few flowers from the garden of my reveries made me buy some hand-embroidered hankies for my daughter-in-law. Recently, as both of us sat re-arranging her wardrobe, I saw a box of tissues lying near them. She told me that she found the hankies so beautiful that she didn’t feel like spoiling them. They are to be kept as souvenirs, as use-and-throw tissues came as handy wipers, she felt.

Well, change is constant. Following the arrival of paper tissues, cotton hankies have lost their popularity. Now, the tissue-box sellers can be seen at traffic lights doing brisk business. But somehow, my husband and I remain loyal devotees of the old hankies for wiping everything, from dust to dirt, and tears to sweat.