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Summary of Question:	Does A Kachera Equal Boxer Shorts?
Category:	Sikh Practices
Date Posted:	Sunday, 12/09/2001 12:00 PM MST

I am a sikh male who has been wearing a kachera as my undergarment for many years now. I am not amritdhari however chose to begin to wear this so that I may follow sikhism closely. I noticed a question on this discussion in which you responded that it was okay to have an elastic instead of a "nala" in the kachera. I have been contemplating for some time now whether it is okay for us to wear long "boxer shorts" that are worn by many men of this society. My understanding is that the kachera was important in the past because of the lack of privacy in those days making it neccessary for both males and females to cover there private parts with big long kacheras to their knees. Today we see that the kacheras worn are not as big and long as those worn by the people of the past. Also it is often very difficult to wear a bulky kachera underneath pants etc. I would like some help with this dilemma. Since you have stated that it is okay to have an elastic in the kachera I would like to know what your opinion on

this matter is. Is not having a kachera with an elastic similar to wearing boxers that have an elastic and are fairly long in length also? I sincerely await you response.

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REPLY
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Sat Siri Akaal. Technically, no, it is not OK. Kacheras are kacheras. But I know a lot of people with questions similar to yours, or who have decided that boxers pass for kacheras.

Times change; if elastic had been invented 300 years ago, I wonder if kacheras would have had elastic rather than nalas. If boxer shorts had been around 300 years ago, I wonder what kacheras would look like today.

BUT, kacheras represent a level of conciousness about chastity and sex. The question to ask yourself is: do kacheras remind me of Guru's teaching on chastity (outside of marriage)? Do boxers do that for me?

Guru rakha,
-DKK