DESI CLUB, BUT VIDESHI ATTIRE

WHILE GOVERNMENT IS BUSY PROMOTING EVERYTHING INDIAN, A VETERAN JOURNALIST IN DESI ATTIRE WAS RECENTLY REFUSED ENTRY INTO A SNOOTY BENGALURU CLUB

Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a British Indian Bengali polymath and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance, had famously, in the 1800s, spoken to his Western clothes and fed his suit after he was denied entry to a club for wearing a dhoti- kurta.

Unfortunately, decades later, the situation hasn’t changed much. Recently, well- known journalist Shekhar Gupta was not allowed into a Bengaluru club because he was wearing a

kurta. It did not matter that Shekhar was wearing a kurta from an up- market brand, but what got noticed was the traditional Indian attire that is considered unsuitable for clubs. The British may have left long ago, but the hangover of their rule still lingers, most famously in the clubs that still adhere to the decades- old imperial dress code.

The writing on the wall is clear — Western clothes will always retain their superior status. Many eminent celebrities have expressed their grouse about this dress code and to be fair, some clubs have relaxed their rules to allow traditional attire. So, the question arises about the need to stick to outdated rules that ban Indian clothing at a few clubs.

Premkumar Karra, former president, Madras Cricket Club, denies that it still exists, “The colonial dress code is history ( after a Madras High Court order removing any club ban on the dhoti). We have to change with the times. Can we stop a Modi jacket from being worn in the club today? I believe a dhoti and shirt, kurta and pyjama are smart outfits. A compromise would be to specify certain areas of the club with a smart dress code while general areas should be free for members and sportspeople with their dress preference.”

Young Gandhian Siddharth

Mohan Nair, who runs DesiTude, is always dhoti- clad and believes it is not right on the part of clubs to have a blanket ban. “It’s true that there should not be any indecency while wearing a dhoti or a

lungi. I don’t personally agree to a blanket ban on it. I wore it for my engineering convocation and I wore it when I visited a pub in Bengaluru. In Delhi and Mumbai, little kids would sing

Lungi Dance when they saw me. But I take that lightly and never had a personal experience when I was asked to leave a place for wearing a dhoti,” he said.

Some time ago, Justice Krishna Iyer of the Supreme Court was denied entry to the Madras Cricket Club. He called the chief minister ( M. Karunanidhi then) and created a scene, but the club refused to budge. Years later, however, politicians had to be allowed entry thanks to the pulls and pressures.

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