A “fifth” season seems to have enveloped the thoughts and senses of the women in Pakistan – the ‘Lawn Craze’ season. Come March and larger than life billboards beckon every passerby with beautiful women flashing smiles at you from advertisements put up all over town. From Bollywood actresses to Pakistani catwalks divas, these models silently promise that you will look svelte, ravishing and stylish in that particular brand of lawn. And suddenly, these lawn fabric exhibitions have become the latest status symbol of the elite of Pakistan. So what if you can’t afford to drive a seven series? You can afford to wear a designer lawn suit, the acquisition of which is more difficult than you might think. And so, the race begins.

This year has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of exhibitions of designer lawn. Also, the trend of visiting these exhibitions has trickled down the socio-economic pyramid, which means multitudes now flock to these exhibitions. Research for this blog revealed that in Karachi, in a single day, one particular lawn exhibition had around 10,000 female visitors! Each woman, if she gets her hand on them, buys anywhere between one to five suits, on an average. The cheapest possible lawn suit will cost around Rs. 1,200, while those with a bit of embroidery or of a costlier brand go over Rs. 3,000. In a country where the GST might soon clamber to 20 per cent, how are women chasing lawn as if their life depended on it?

Many seem to be “compulsive lawn exhibition hoppers” (maybe CLEH will soon be classified as a syndrome?). They must visit each and every lawn exhibition and must get their clothes stitched within the week, before a textile mill somewhere in another part of Pakistan conjures up a “copy” of the original – which often happens just within five to seven days!

If an exhibition will open its doors at 10 am, you can see prospective buyers gathering at the venue two hours prior to the event. Many lawn exhibitions have arranged for first aid, as claustrophobia and lack of oxygen due to too many women crammed in a single hall, can result in someone passing out.

Pushing, shoving and refusing to follow the queue can, and does, result in a bruise or a scratch every now and then. Eye witness accounts of respectable women abusing salesmen at exhibitions have been recorded. If the salesmen declare that the stock is finished within the first few hours of the exhibition, frustrated buyers in disbelief have actually clambered behind the tables where the lawn was being displayed! Some come back so disappointed and agitated that they vouch never to go to that exhibit again. Yet, one such lady confessed that in the afternoon when she learnt that fresh stock had arrived, she sheepishly went back there again, and returned victoriously with a bundle of joy.

Lawn is pure cotton based, absorbent and ideal to be worn in our climate. There is nothing wrong with purchasing and flaunting this beautiful fabric or indulging in a bit of retail therapy, but given the pushing, shoving and obsessing, aren’t Pakistani women going a bit overboard every passing year?

Farah Zahidi Moazzam is the Features Editor at Women’s Own Magazine and writes about social issues, particularly those relating to women.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.