Where did you get that hat?

27th July 2006 – Chalpon ata,Kygerstan
In earlier days, a hat said a lot about who you were or what you did. Butcher, baker, policeman, nurse etc: all wore distinctive hats that were exclusive to their occupational group or type. Here in Central Asia your hat can not only signal your occupation but also your religious affiliation, your age and even the part of the country from which you come. Young women, for example , change their headdress when they marry, have children and when they turn 30! Boys change theirs upon iniiation to early manhood and again when they take up a trade or deepen their religious committment. Sitting here with my green tea in a Kygerstan cafe I only need to look up to see a dozen different hat types walking past the window. Simply keeping the sun off ones head is not the sole function of a hat. In the merchant towns along the Great Silk Road, there were several buildings common to each; a Caravan Sarai where they could reach and warehouse their goods, a bath house, a money exchange and a trading dome. The first area in the bazaar was the hat trading dome. However, times are changing here as in the west and the universal headdress for all under 40s for all irrespective of gender or demographic subgroup is - you guess it - the baseball cap! In a few years it will probably be the only one and it's purpose will be to look cool and keep off the sun off.