Bringing Peace Through Turbans: Examining India's Parliamentary Sartorial Splendour

After making a hue and cry over introducing a Uniform Civil Code, India’s ruling party seems to have pivoted to the more pressing matter of a Uniform Parliamentary Code. It was recently reported that for the special session of Parliament starting on September 18, parliamentary staffers would be clad in uniforms designed by the National Institute of Fashion Technology and signed off by “an expert committee”.

https://x.com/ians_india/status/1701534481251705064?s=20

Once members of this committee have been identified, they will no doubt be in demand as consultants for forthcoming fashion shows in Milan and Paris. Move over, Stella McCartney. Out of the way, Donatella Versace.

What will this parliamentary sartorial splendour look like? According to the reports, members of the staff involved in legislative work will wear cream-coloured jackets, shirts with pink lotus designs, and khaki trousers. The women will be issued sarees, presumably also bearing the lotus motif. And the house marshals will wear Manipuri turbans. Bravo.

The blooming lotuses within parliament are another subtle reminder of who’s in charge. It will no doubt be passed off as an example of decolonisation, in this case employing the country’s national flower. The same flower was also a part of the G20 logo, which is nothing more than a remarkable coincidence, of course. Who could think otherwise?

Also read: India’s G20 Presidency Logo the Only One Among 15 Other Nations to Resemble Ruling Party Symbol

As for those Manipuri turbans for the house marshals, it’s heart-warming to see the government addressing the pressing issues of the northeastern state...with headgear. Clearly, this is a ground-breaking initiative to show that Manipur will be on the parliament’s head – sorry, mind.

Peace through turbans: historic, really.

No visuals have so far surfaced of the turbans themselves, but there is enough inspiration for the designers. For example, they can meet their tryst with fashion destiny by examining footage of the prime minister’s election appearance in Manipur in 2017, during which he sported a traditional Manipuri turban with a peacock plume attached. As fashion icon Coco Chanel so wisely put it: “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”

Despite these sartorial innovations, there may still be a few who will grumble that this is more nonsense than fashion sense. These unpatriotic naysayers should be glad that the uniforms were not inspired by the mascots for the ICC ODI World Cup. Those unforgettable creatures resemble aliens from a distant cricketing universe and in the words of the ICC head of events, they represent “beacons of unity and passion”. Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

The two #CWC23 mascots are here 😍

Have your say in naming this exciting duo 👉 https://t.co/AytgGuLWd5 pic.twitter.com/7XBtdVmtRS

— ICC (@ICC) August 19, 2023

However, there is at least one sense in which the spirit of the earlier parliament will live on. Among the clothes that staffers are expected to wear is what has been described as a Nehru jacket. As always, the country’s first prime minister must step up and take responsibility for this cover-up.

Sanjay Sipahimalani is a Mumbai-based writer and reviewer.

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