I see that the pallu pulled no chord. Well, let's just cut it some slack! Let's drop the subject and reveal some more.

Namely the choli: that's what a sari blouse is commonly called in North India.

Mostly we don't get to wear such cholis as these:

More like:

First let's listen to a naughty song about "what's behind the blouse":

http://www.raaga.com/channels/hindi/movie/H000037.htmlhttp://www.raaga.com/channels/hindi/movie/H000037.html

This song had become a symbol of the degradation of Hindi film songs and their coarse appeal. But it's got a great beat and many a folk song can be quite randy. My sweetest memory is of a dear friend, well in his seventies, who was humming this soon after a heart attack!

Here's a translation from

http://www.bollywhat.com/forum/index.php?PHPSESSID=6a3a94e4a8b083026c9adfef59381ad7&topic=386.0

  cholii ke piichhe kyaa hai x2
What is behind your blouse (choli)

chunarii ke niiche kyaa hai, chunarii ke niiche ?
What is below your scarf (chunari)

ho, cholii me.n dil hai meraa, chunarii me.n dil hai meraa x2
my heart is in my blouse, in my scarf

ye dil me.n duu.ngii mere yaar ko, pyaar ko!
I’ll give this heart to my friend, my lover

are, laakho.n diivaane tere, laakho.n diivaane
thousands are mad for you
aashiq puraane tere, aashiq puraane
and have been in love with you for a long time

ho, aashiq milaa naa aisaa, merii pasa.nd jaisaa
ho, I haven't found the one I want

de dil shahar ye aisaa, kyaa karuu.n kyaa karuu.n
not in this town, what can I do?

resham kaa laha.ngaa meraax2
My skirt (lehnga) is made of silk (resham)

laha.ngaa hai maha.ngaa meraax2
and it is expensive

laha.ngaa uThaa ke chaluu.n, ghu.NghaT giraa ke chaluu.
I lift it when I walk and pull my veil down over my head

kyaa kyaa bachaa ke chaluu.N raamajii, raamajii
What more can I do for modesty , oh God ?

are, isako bachaa lo baabuu (man) dil me.n chhupaalo baabuux2
save this woman, hide her in your heart

ho, aashiq pa.De hai.n piichhe,
men are after me

koii idhar ko khii.nche koii udhar ko khii.nche
some pull me this way and some that way

shaadii karaado merii {o ho!} shaadii karaado
get me married o get me married

Dolii sajaado merii Dolii sajaa do
decorate my doli (palanquin)

sautan banaa naa jAye,
let me not become a second wife

jogan banaa naa jaay jogan sahaa naa jaaye
let me not become a nun, I won't be able to tolerate that.

are!la.Dakii ho kaisii bolox2 la.Dakaa ho kaisaa bolo x2
what should the girl be like, what should the boy be like

ho la.Dakii ho mere jaisii la.Dakaa ho tere jaisaa
the girl like me and the boy like you

aaye mazaa phir kaisaa, pyaar kaa, pyaar kaa
then we can really enjoy the joys of love
jhumarii kaa jumaruu ban jaax2
become the drum of the drummer

paayal kaa, ghu.Ngharuu ban jaax2
become the bells of the anklet

merii salaamii kar le merii gulaamii kar le
bow down to me become my slave

hogaa tU hogaa koI bAdashaah, bAdashaah {are jaa!)
you may be a king but I don't give a damn!

baalii umariyaa merii baalii umariyaa
I’m at the peak of my youth

sUnii sajariyaa merii sUnii sajariyaa mere sapano.n ke raajaa
listen to me my love, listen to me, prince of my dreams

jal_dii se vaapas aajaa
come back to me soon

sotii hU.N mai.n daravaajaa khol ke, khol ke
I sleep with my door open

begam (queen) bagair baadashaah(king) kis kaam kaa
what good is a king without his queen

baadashaah bagair begam kis kaam kii
what good is a queen without her king

terii marazii (wish) tU jaane, merii marazii mai.n jaanuu.n
you know what you want, I know what I want

maine javaanii(youth) tere naam kii, naam kii {ho chorii}
I dedicate my youth to you

 Witness one reaction from some Google surf, light and frothy:

My favorite part of this article has to be the English translations of what I assume are popular Hindi songs. Can anyone name these tunes?

In the 1950s, songs warned against falling in love, because of what people would say. “Be careful lest the world see us together/ and our love will become a story for people to tell,” went one popular tune.
By the 1980s, young people were ready to defy the world, at least in the films of Bollywood. “I’m a lover, you’re a lover/ so what are mommy and daddy to us/ the whole world is useless,” another song proclaimed.
And in the 1990s, filmmakers were pushing the outer boundaries of taste. “What’s behind your blouse?” sang a hero in one infamous tune. “My heart,” the heroine replied. (Perhaps the proper response would have been “one tight slap.”)

The last time I sang “what’s behind your blouse” to a girl (while we danced around a tree), I did in fact get slapped.

http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/001076.html

Naughty Gita, enticing me to post, chasing golden cloth when I should be chasing a deadline.

I actually laughed when I read about the pallu being used to wipe various more and less viscose fluids from the faces of children. "Hell," I thought, "I've been doing that more or less involuntarily for years without a pallu." Unlike my black silk skirt though, with the pallu you can use the side that doesn't show without putting on a show.

Now the choli would be a problem for me, living in the frozen north. The extra air conditioning provided by the cropped top might be a tad uncomfy in the winter. What do die-hard sari wearers do when they go ice-fishing? Would LL Bean's silk long-johns be an option?

/G