"A dupattah can serve a lot of purposes. The long stretch of fabric has, until now, been an integral component of the long tunic and baggy trouser ensembles women wear across South Asia. But the nearly essential accessory can do a whole lot more than just hang from the shoulders. In the region’s hottest months, it’s often used to dust off sunglasses or dab at a perspiring forehead. Old scraps of the gauzy fabric are used to make the homemade cheese, paneer, and, in a pinch, a dupattah can serve as a halfway decent stand-in for a towel. If one happened to take a serious spill or fall off the side of a mountain, it might make for a life-saving tourniquet or rope. And although I once used mine to tie closed a lockless door on a particularly questionable overnight train in India, I mostly think of the dupattah as three yards I could do without." In my first post for Medium, a new website by the founders of Twitter, I write about why I can't live out my disdain for the three yards of fabric that is considered a must-wear accessory to many South Asian women. Read the full piece here.