The fact that we, the citizens of free India, were brainwashed for over 70 years by khadi-clad netas says a lot about us.
It says that we place more importance on clothes than we need to. Like, for instance, the burden — and the credit — for a consolidated freedom movement against our colonisers. And Nusrat Jahan’s Parliamentary session now affirms that we haven’t changed at all.
#WATCH: TMC's winning candidate from Basirhat (West Bengal), Nusrat Jahan takes oath as a member of Lok Sabha today. pic.twitter.com/zuM17qceOB
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2019
No matter how short your attention span may be, you could not have forgotten about the severe trolling Nusrat and Mimi Chakraborty — both young MPs from Bengal — had to battle when they posted pictures in the Parliament premises to celebrate the moment.
They were dressed normally — Mimi in denim, a white shirt and sneakers, Nusrat in a dressy business suit. But then, ‘this is Parliament, not a movie set’ and ‘you’ve made a joke of Parliament’ Internet trolls reminded them. Because newly elected MPs, who are at Parliament premises in their own right — you know, because they’ve won elections for their party — obviously need to be reminded by nameless, faceless, achievement-less trolls who are not eligible to even enter the building!
But then, logic doesn’t matter.
And neither do party tickets, apparently.
Because Parliament — and Indian politics at large — has a dress code.
Kurta-pyjama or dhoti, preferably khadi, for the men. And plain Jane sarees for the women.
See how that humble ol’ charkha spun our heads into an infinite loop of irrationality!
#WATCH: TMC's winning candidate from Jadavpur (West Bengal), Mimi Chakraborty takes oath as a member of Lok Sabha. pic.twitter.com/NWD8OCCIio
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2019
This time, Nusrat and Mimi are back — but they’ve, sadly, toed the line. Mimi was seen wearing a salwar suit during her Parliamentary session, while Nusrat, the newlywed, donned a bindi, sindoor and a forearm full of choodas, looking every bit the quintessential Hindu, ooops, Indian bahu. The Internet now finds itself praising their beauty and simplicity — something that was seemingly lost in their erstwhile Western outfits.
And thus, they fit in.
It took two free-thinking, modern women a change of wardrobe to get accepted in the khadi-dominated circles of politics.
Who knew fashion had such wonderful superpowers!