THE THING ABOUT INFINITE POSSIBILITIES
On February 16, Sri Lanka, a country whose cricket has been in a shambles for some time now, pulled off a momentous away Test win in Durban against South Africa, one of the strongest teams in contemporary cricket. It was as much the victory itself as the manner of it that resulted in the win being hailed as one of the greatest (and unlikeliest) in the history of the game.
Kusal Perera, who scored a career best 153 not out, was the architect of the triumph. Along with Vishwa Fernando (who scored his career best 6 not out), Perera put on 78 runs for the tenth wicket, a world record in a successful run chase. With the fall of Sri Lanka’s ninth wicket, everyone had thought that the match was over. But it was not. That last wicket partnership — full of grit and gumption and, above all, coming when it was least expected — turned the match on its head.
You could not have made it up. It defied the form book, logic, expectation, even plausibility. But it did happen.
As an incredulous Andrew Fidel Fernando later wondered on cricinfo.com: “In years to come, we might still struggle to believe that this embattled and unfancied batsman, in this profoundly embattled and unfancied team, played an innings of such dazzling quality… [against] the best bowling unit in home conditions on the planet. Could it be the greatest ever?”
The unfolding in front of our eyes of what seems barely credible is one of the enduring and defining charms of sport. Things that are beyond belief, the occurrence of which, in a film, or a play or a novel, would necessitate a willing suspension of disbelief, can — and do — occur in sport.
It does not happen all the time (that would make it boring), but when it does, wami, a professor at Pearl Academy, pointing out that one of Gandhi’s thrusts was on the use of traditional fabric and Khadi. “Gandhi used the semiotics of clothing and visual media to expose the British. That legacy has stayed and clothing of politicians continues to have a visual and psychological impact,” he says.
He cites the example of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made the traditional jacket his own, along with various colourful headgear . “And now, the younger generation are subtly changing the dynamics. In a country with a large youth demographic, the gilet represents something youthful and current, because you can find such jackets on young people – and for as little as ~500.”
Dressing for politicians can be tricky. They have to look well puttogether without going over-thetop and retain mass connect. In
India, a number of politicians such as Jawaharlal Nehru (long coats), Indira Gandhi ( sarees), AB Vajpayee
(dhoti) have used clothes to make a Priyanka Chaturvedi, Congress spokesperson the unexpected outcome is what sets sport apart from other fields of popular culture.
Think of Leicester City winning the Premier League in 2015-16. An unheralded bunch of players, coached by a man who had started the season with the aim of avoiding relegation from the top flight, beating the combined financial muscle and talents of England’s super clubs. The odds on Leicester City at the start of the season point. Regional leaders such as Mamata Banerjee or J Jayalalithaa have also left a mark with their trademark styles. As former NIFT professor Harmeet Bajaj points out, “historically, clothing has been a means of communication, of profession, status or personality.”
For Bajaj, the gilet represents a “slight innovation” over the traditional kurta pyjama . “They are connecting with the youth. It is also saying that you don’t need to look dowdy as a politician.” But she points out that many of the so-called trendsetters are men.
The gilet turn is not just a fashion statement, thinks President of the Fashion Design Council of India Sunil Sethi, but also about practicality. “It is a mass product produced by every high-street brand. To me, it is practicality over fashion. I personally think it shows modernity of thought, looks trendy and also resonates with young masses who wear it for day-today wear.”
But can the gilet become as big a political statement as traditional attire? Unlikely, say the experts. “This will never take away from the Nehru jacket and the Modi kurta,” thinks Sethi. And, Goswami feels there will be more experimentation with older fabric like
Khadi. And, ultimately, the sartorial tastes of politicians is likely to revolve around tradition. “Look at our bandhgala, it easily fits into a setting with world leaders wearing bespoke suits.
Indian-ness is the fashion statement of a politician,” says Sethi. Jagan Mohan Reddy,
Chief, YSR Congress Rahul Gandhi, Congress president Sachin Pilot, Deputy CM, Rajasthan Jyotiraditya Scindia, Congress leader Anurag Thakur, BJP leader