Many women in India wear burkahs and are fully veiled. I saw one woman in Mangalore lift up the part of the veil covering her face and spit. A few feet later she did the same thing, unconcerned that I was walking right behind her.
Women in burkahs walked in and out of designer clothing stores. Most of their kids were wearing "western-style" clothing. I found several designer burkah stores.
In the Kuwait airport I sat across from a woman in full veil. Sticking out from the bottom of her burkah was a beautiful light blue dress and I noticed that she was wearing exquisite shoes. On the airplane, another woman who was fully veiled in the airport had pulled the veil down exposing her face.
Basically, the wearing of burkahs is not as rigid as we might think. The burkah was originally a cultural article of clothing that has become associated with religious extremism. But the burkah is not a singular symbol of fanaticism.
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