What's wrong with raang?

KINGSHUK MUKHERJI / TNN / Nov 27, 2005, 21:37 IST

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It's time our neta babalogs shed their fetish for all things white and added a dash of colour to their starched kurtas and saris.

It's time our neta babalogs shed their fetish for all things white and added a dash of colour to their starched kurtas and saris.
The politician's white fetish is perplexing. Matters little, which stable he belongs to. Strangely, while politicos of the western stock invariably turn out in black pinstripes, the Indian variant prefers starched stuff done in pure, spotless white.
That brings us to the surmise that any mantriji must be spending quite a fortune, just to keep his blemishfree wardrobe going. Ever wondered why detergent makers don't rope in netas to push laundry bars into the market?
For, by any stretch of imagination, netadom must be eating up whiteners by the truckloads.

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And, there's no exception. Cutting across the vast expanse that's India, netas are in white the colour of Indian politics. Truth to tell, this fetish for things white has a lot to do with building up the purity perception.
Inevitably, the must-haves in the Indian political theatre are a spotless reputation and the stain-free kurta. While most politicians have the latter, the first one sometimes goes missing.

Such is the attachment to white, that Lalu Prasad prefers to sport white slippers. Why, he has a shock of white hair too. Not that he needs detergent to keep his locks sparkling white. Still, he cuts a smart (blemish free?) picture.
Bengali babu Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee does much the same. He's seldom seen in any outfit other than his regulation white dhoti-kurta. Many years ago, he had been seen talking to a TV interviewer in pajamas and a grey shirt.
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But that was a one-off. The politicians of the southern ilk go for, if not kurtapajamas,white shirts and trousers.
But seldom do they tuck their shirts in. Strange, for they'd have looked a tad smarter if they did. The traditional ones such as Vyalar Ravi, P Chidambaram and A. K. Antony too love milk-white. They prefer white shirts and mundus of the same colour.
The Congress babalog one had thought would add a dash of colour to politics. They didn't. Even Rahul Gandhi opts for white kurtas and trousers. The only deviation young Mr Gandhi prefers shoes to sandals.
His father's image in a Tshirt and a pair of jeans, eyes behind sunglasses, had looked so much trendier and refreshing. Rajiv, though, fell into the whites-only trap later.
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But why does the Indian politician necessarily have to be so off-colour? This, when the Jayalalithaas, the Sushma Swarajes and Shiela Dixits of this world can turn out in loud, gorgeous saris and still pull it off with ��lan. Sonia Gandhi is an exception. But she does look stiff in pure cotton.
Actually, white has another connotation austerity. In their quest for rajniti, probably the politician's focus often gets blurred and his efforts are more for vashtra shuddhi, not atma shuddhi.
How about vahana shuddhi? Birds of the political feather invariably flock to white cars. You'd seldom spot a neta riding a black car because it's decidedly desi and not too ostentatious.
That brings us to wonder how many sets of white outfits does an average politician have? Must be quite a few, for overuse of white could lead to a dimming of the luster. Especially, when the elections are on and when it's time for netas to hit the dirt track.
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One can't but wonder does the neta ever switch to coloured clothes? Does he sport white even when he's a private person? Surely, netadom doesn't sleep in white. Unlike King Balban, who it's rumoured, slept in his regal finery.
Frankly, it's time the colours of Indian politics changed. There were some who had gone about making some corrections in this colour scheme. Siddhartha Shankar Ray, for instance, was one.
He'd wear red half-sleeve shirts with white trousers once in a while. It must have done wonders to his appeal, a handsome man that he is.
Why, even Fidel Castro does shed his military fatigues once in a while. And, he does look dandy in dinner jackets. The Indian electorate, experts the world-over say, is wise enough to see through the fa��ade.
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In our land, the word clean is used mostly to qualify a politician as if, that's his sole denominator of reliability. And, it can't get cleaner than white.
But, to the voter, the politician is no white knight in shining armour. He can't be one. There are too many practicalities involve. A neta is necessarily a human being. He has ambitions, like any other.
He has desires, like any other. Perhaps, he loves a drink or two. Or even a puff. Heaven's sake, let him be. Why bind him to a dress code ? What matters is his sincerity to the basic principles of honesty and public good.

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