New Delhi, Aug. 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sartorially sober on the 69th Independence Day, turning out in a muted golden bandhgala jacket and mustard lehariya turban for his Red Fort address. A tricolour handkerchief peeped out of his breast pocket.
The parallel stripe lehariya pattern is a Rajasthan speciality and is chief minister Vasundhara Raje's favourite for her saris. After the speech, there was conjecture on social media that the turban was either Gujarati mashru or inspired by the Burberry checks. But politician and handloom expert Jaya Jaitly told The Telegraph it is " lehariya without doubt."
"His kurta and jacket were also handloom. They may have been warm but there was a cooler behind him covered with flowers. I'm not sure whether the style of tying the turban was Rajasthani or Gujarati," Jaitly said.
An official from Rajasthan, involved in the arrangements, said it was not common in the desert state to tie the turban this way. "It is not the usual style. The braiding style is done mainly in Gujarat. We also use it sometimes. You can call it a combination."
Designer Rina Dhaka told this paper that the debate is open on whether the material of his jacket and kurta was silk or cotton. "I like this year's look better than last year's. He is not taking risks the way he was. The pagri is sombre as I predicted. But he's still the fashionista who innovates. He did not wear his trademark Modi kurta, but check out the shirt-like sleeves," she said.
On Thursday, Dhaka had hazarded a guess that Modi, who is under attack from the Opposition for his silence, would choose a less flamboyant turban than the dazzling crimson-and-green combination he sported last year.
Jaitly suggested it would serve the government better if they had provided fans for the audience, who had to sweat out the peak humidity that preceded the day's rain.
"Adivasis from Odisha and Jharkhand make very affordable leaf fans that would amount to a fraction of the cost for organising the show. These could have been provided with the flag printed on them. More livelihood would reduce the need for heavy security arrangements," she said.
Delhi had 40,000 policemen of duty, including some in their ceremonial red, gold and navy blue safas, around Red Fort.