Headlines
I-Day speech: Sartorially subdued Modi softens fiery rhetoric
New Delhi, Aug 15
There was no eye-catching bright
colourful flowing turban this year, that had made as much an impact as
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech last year.
Modi,
whose sartorial preferences have been much written about, chose a
subdued creamish-yellow turban this year, matching with his simple cream
coloured churidaar-kurta and jacket.
Matching his dress sense,
the fiery rhetoric which had galvanised his supporters through elections
and governance in the first year has undergone a change.
The
intense delivery was replaced with a 'team India' approach which
credited the nation with achievements and the greatness to come, rather
than the "me, mine, myself" eloquence so typical of the man who brought
his party to power through a high octane campaign, and which carried on
in his speeches for a year.
People did notice and comment on his
earlier approach. It was former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar
Abdullah who had hit the nail on its head by once saying that for Modi
the "whole thing was about being me, myself and I alone".
On
Independence Day last year, Modi’s fervent speech had made as much
impact as his bright red and green headgear. His appeal of Make in
India, of abolishing the Planning Commission, setting up toilets for all
among other pronouncements had caught on - and there was much applause,
including from among the over 150 foreign diplomats who had crowded
around to hear the then new leader of India.
His visit to the US
last September was talked about not only for his meeting with President
Barack Obama and his speech at the UN General Assembly, but also his
frequent change of attire. Those following the prime minister would
notice him in a changed suit or churidar-kurta and bright jacket for
every occasion - and the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted pictures of all
his meetings with dignitaries.
Modi’s sartorial choice became
one of the most talked about event during Obama’s India visit in
January, when he wore a pin-striped suit with his name on it - that
fetched the prime minister enormous amount of flak, not the least from
opposition parties which tried to paint him as a man of form, rather
than substance.
The “Rs.10 lakh suitâ€, was gifted by a
businessman and was later auctioned off, but the attacks did not end.
'Suit-Boot ki sarkar' became a war-cry of Congress trying desperately to
find a chink in the armour of a man who had reduced the party to its
lowest-ever tally in the Lok Sabha
Sitting along side Barack
Obama watching Republic Day parade this year, Modi made an
eye-catching picture, attired in a black bandh-gala suit, and topped
with a green and red bandhani turban with a red frill at the top. He
also wore a pair of stylish shades in contrast to the US President who
was attired in a simple dark blue suit.
Perhaps in the aftermath
of the disapproval he received for the pin-striped suit, Modi has, over
the months, become markedly spartan in his attire, even on foreign
jaunts. So has his grandiloquence. The few schemes he announced this
year appeared to be a case of reality catching up with hyperbole.
Modi
had confessed in interviews earlier that he likes to mix and match his
wardrobe and experiments with colour. The experiments seems to have been
given up. He now largely wears dark coloured bandh-gala suits or simple
churidar-kurtas for his meetings.
In another marked change this
year - there was no jostling, eager crowd to hear Modi's Independence
Day speech. Is this the beginning of ennui among the people?
(Ranjana Narayan can be contacted at [email protected]