S. Asia struts on UN catwalk
Blue turbans. Dark suits. Cropped beards. Each is designed to send important signals.
As India's new prime minister, Manmohan Singh steps up to the podium this week to give his maiden speech at the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, there will be policy wonks watching every word to determine the man's vision for regional and international politics.
But Sunaina Suneja, a fashion designer in New Delhi, won't be hanging on Mr. Singh's every word. Instead, she will be looking at his clothes.
"Here in India, he usually wears khadi - homespun cotton clothes - he's an honest, simple person," says Ms. Suneja, herself a designer of khadi fashions, and owner of Raj Creations in New Delhi. "He's no nonsense, what you see is what you get."
Clothes and politics have always gone hand in hand in South Asia. Mahatma Gandhi wore a homespun loincloth as a form of protest against British imported goods. Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, wore tailored Savile Row suits to send an opposite message: We are a nation you can do business with.
Today is no different. From Mr. Singh's turban to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf's fatigues to the cropped beard on Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai, they all send a clear signal to their citizens - and to the world - about their politics and their priorities. The key is to watch.
To be sure, there will be important issues discussed at the UN General Assembly. On Monday President Bush defended his war in Iraq. African nations have spoken passionately about the looming humanitarian crisis in Sudan's Darfur region. And Russia's main item is the struggle with Chechen rebels.
In South Asia, however, this year's issues have a distinctly retro look. India's prime minister spoke of India's growing economic and strategic importance - India has nuclear weapons - and he asked, yet again, to be included in the ultimate power club, the UN Security Council. Pakistan's president was expected to use his address Wednesday to raise the territorial dispute over Kashmir, and talk of Pakistan's importance in tracking down terrorists. As for Mr. Karzai, his message is a simple plea to not forget Afghanistan's needs.
Small wonder, then, that the mind wanders toward fashion.
Among Indian fashionistas, there was some real concern about Singh. Would he wear the same outfit he has worn during his first 120-some days in power - blue turban, rumpled white tunic, white baggy pants? Okay, the blue turban has to stay. Singh is, after all, a member of the Sikh faith, which requires turbans for its men. But the kurta pajamas - they had to go.
Anupama Dayal, a designer in Delhi, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Singh wearing a gray achkan suit for his meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, en route to New York. The achkan - made famous by Jawaharlal Nehru, and more recently, Austin Powers's nemesis Dr. Evil - is a mixture of an Eastern closed collar and a snug Western cut. The look is crisp and professional, but uncompromising.
Page: 1 | 2 
