Mr. Modi and his Awesome “Pagdis”

I am yet to see Mr. Modi dress badly. The one mistake he made was to wear the suit with his name all over. He has been a public figure since 2002 and in 18 years, one mistake is forgivable. Even the photographs that show him standing outside the White House many decades ago as a regular member of BJP, show him well put together.

ஆள் பாதி ஆடை பாதி

The literal translation of the above statement in Tamil is “its half you, half your dress”. What it means is that how you dress speaks volumes about you or your dress makes as much an impression as you.

My mother and my late mother-in-law are (were) no fashionistas. If you asked them what a ramp was, they would probably say, its used in the construction industry :). But both my mothers turn(ed) out really well, even if they were at home. They wear (wore) their sarees really well – not a pleat out of place, beautifully washed by them personally (oh that’s a separate blog, Mom’s and their sarees) and not a hair out of place. My mother thinks am a slacker because I wash my face and brush my hair just once a day. She washes her face, hand and feet twice or thrice in a day and combs her hair twice.

My mother-in-law took bath three times when Chennai was hottest and twice when it was hot. When she would come to Delhi she would take bath twice even if it was pleasant October weather. Both have never used a deodorant but they never smelt sweaty despite working in the kitchen for most of the day.

The way Mr. Modi dresses says a lot about him –

1. He likes order. He never wears crumpled clothes ! In his work, what we hear is that he is very orderly, takes notes, doesn’t interrupt and gives clear instructions.
2. He likes cleanliness. Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan ? No surprise there.
3. He is very expressive – look at the beautiful colourful pagdis and his speeches are always very effective because he gets your attention.
4. He is meticulous – he never shows his nervousness (if any) or fear. Am sure he feels these emotions but as a leader he never lets it show. The decision to do the surgical strikes show cold meticulous planning not some uncontrolled anger.

This Independence Day, I looked at his awesome Pagdi and started looking for articles that tracked his headgear. Outlook had posted this article last year – A Look At Narendra Modi’s Independence Day Turbans since 2014

I took screen shots and here they are –

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Today he wore another beautiful Pagdi.

My job got easier because I found a collage posted by Kiran K S on Facebook. He doesn’t know who put together this collage so we are unable to give picture credits.

Happy Independence Day. Thrilled to be living in a MODI-fied India – strong, secure and proud of its lineage.

Jai Hind. Jai Hind Ki Sena.