Politics As Costume Drama

It's not for nothing that Indian politicians are so conscious of what they wear.

- Sunanda K Datta-Ray

From under-dressed Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to over-dressed Narendra Damodardas Modi, every Indian politician has been acutely conscious of attire. Like PV Narasimha’s famous comment that not taking a decision is also taking a decision, not dressing up is also a form of dressing. Some might think Mamata Banerjee doesn’t care a jot how she looks, but anyone who tries to persuade her to doll up like Mayawati is likely to be given short shrift. Mayawati would be equally upset if asked to give up her lacquered hairdo, dupatta flung round her neck like British undergraduates used to drape their university scarves, and swinging handbag.

Although hardly a tailor’s dummy, Gandhi appreciated the strategic advantage of what he wore better than one might suspect. How else could he have retorted “His Majesty had enough on for both of us!” when asked if he really wore only a loin cloth to tea with King George V and Queen Mary? The opportunity for a dig at the King-Emperor was worth the risk of catching a chill in Buckingham Palace, where his scanty dress exposed a pair of skinny legs. This semi-nudity also won plaudits in a popular pre-Second World War poem that CF Andrews cited:

Hitler with his Brown Shirts, riding for a fall, Mussolini with his Black Shirts, back against the wall, De Valera with his Green Shirts, caring not at all, Three cheers for Mahatma Gandhi, with no shirt at all!